Homosexuality has been illegal there already, but for good measure, the government just enacted a new law criminalizing gay marriage and gay rights activism:
A new law in Nigeria, dubbed the “Jail the Gays” bill, is encouraging the persecution of gays and will endanger programs fighting HIV-AIDS in the gay community, said Dorothy Aken’Ova, executive director of Nigeria’s International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights. On Monday, President Goodluck Jonathan’s office confirmed that the Nigerian leader signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act that criminalizes gay marriage, gay organizations and anyone working with or promoting them. In Bauchi state, police entrapped four gay men and tortured them into naming others, Aken’Ova said. She said the police have drawn up a list of 168 wanted gay men, of whom 38 have been arrested in recent weeks.
Shackford is especially disturbed by the new restrictions on speech:
Any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organizations or directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years in prison.
That’s some scary stuff right there. Much like Russia’s ban on “gay propaganda” making it next to impossible to legally advocate for gays having the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts, this part of the law essentially criminalizes any sort of organizational efforts to ultimately overturn the law or attempt to change public opinion so that Nigerians don’t see homosexuals as enemies.
Robyn Pennacchia urges the Obama administration to reconsider US aid to Nigeria:
If we’re not going to support Russia because of their hideous anti-gay laws, I certainly don’t think we should be engaging with Nigeria either, terrorism or no. The reason we’re giving them support is because the Christian government is in danger of being overthrown by the northern Islamic population that seeks to implement Sharia Law. Which is bad, but this, quite frankly, is not the biggest step up. While the aid provided by France and other European nations may not be enough to convince Jonathan to repeal the law, the military and economic aid from the U.S. just might. In all likelihood, they probably need us more than they need to send people to jail for being gay. If he wants to fight terrorism, he can do it with all his oil money and perhaps some of his jaunty hat money, not ours. Because, quite frankly, this is terrorism. If we fund Nigeria while this law is in effect, we are funding terrorism of LGBT citizens.
The Dish 