Nigerian govt Proposes 5 Year Jail term for Gay Marriages

[neozizo]

The Nigerian government initiated a bill which proposes a five year jail term for gay marriages by approving a Bill for an Act to make provisions for the Prohibition of Relationship between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by them and for other Matters Connected Therewith.
This bill when passed into law is seen as move to checkmate the influx of western inspired gay marriages also current events happening in South-Africa is seen as a catalyst which might have led to the Nigerian government to react by clamping a fiver year jail term as a punitive measure.
The federal government has rightly described same sex marriage as unafrican and against the Tenets of the Major Religions of the country.

It should be recalled that recently,during the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (ICASA),  held in Abuja, one of the groups that engaged in a march past made a call for recognition of homosexuality in Nigeria.
I commend the executive arm of govt for taking such swift and appropriate action against this undesiarable development.
I hope our legislators will also be in carrying out duties.

[dan kauye]

:shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: I saw the writings on the wall a while back..but damn!  naija?  toh,get ya self together coz the said time has come.ALLAH  shi kare mu da zuri'ar mu. :evil:

[mallamt]

What does it mean for the act of homosexuality? Is it only banning marriage?

[sammy]

Good questions mallamt.  Ok, if gay marriages are illegal what about civil unions and or homosexuality itself?

[kitkat]

Homosexuality or sodomy is a crime in Nigeria in both the criminal and penal codes i.e southern and northern part of the country.It is still a crime in some states in the US and it was in a crime in Britain from where we borrowed our laws although i dont know the present status

[Dave_McEwan_Hill]

As Kitkat points out sodomy used to be a crime in UK but this is no longer the case. In fact buggery (anal intercourse - even with ones wife) used to be illegal though how the authorities were expected to moniter this was never very clear.

The state has decided that what consenting adults get up to is no business of the state unless violence or coercion is involved or minors (people under the age of sixteen). This is the position in most European countries now though homosexual activity was classed as criminal in most of them until fairly recently.

What we have or have had in most countries of the world is a confusion about sexuality, morality and legality.

What the authorities in UK have decided (and there was very considerable opposition to their decision) is that sodomy or the homosexual act is a moral question for those involved voluntarily in such practices but not a legal question (so long as it affects no one else against their will).

David McEwan Hill