Video: I Am Alike: A Nigerian Boi's Reflection on 'Pariah'

Source: Autostraddle

By Spectra Speaks

My cargo shorts and graphic tees weren't exactly what my mother had in mind when she envisioned showing off her daughter who'd "just returned from America with an MIT degree!" to her friends at church.

The prodigal daughter, I'd returned home to Nigeria for my high school bestie's wedding. We hadn't seen each other in five years; during that time I'd not only come out as queer, but founded an organization for immigrant and/or queer women of color (QWOC+ Boston), cut my hair into a frohawk, and started dressing as a boy. I'd pretty much gone from a lip-gloss-wearing straight girl to the gayest person ever, but nobody had witnessed the transition, not even my friend who was getting married. I hadn't reached out to her for fear that I wouldn't be able to lie about who I was, and that soon after she'd tell her mom, who would tell other moms, and eventually the rest of Lagos where my parents lived, forcing my mother to endure becoming the center of gossip and ostracizing her from the very social networks she needed to survive as an aging entrepreneur. In order to make ends meet, my mother relied heavily on referrals from her religious community about various contract jobs -- event planning, hotel management etc; the last thing she needed was a taboo subject like "lesbianism" turning off potential clients.

Needless to say, I hesitated when my friend invited me to be part of her bridal train, but I couldn't refuse an invitation to be part of my girl's wedding, even if it meant wearing a bridesmaid dress. I tried to get out of it but she firmly insisted that the dress wasn't up for negotiation. "Well, what then if you don't wear a dress?" she'd asked laughing, "So, you're going to wear a suit and stand with the boys?" It hurt my feelings, but I laughed along with her and retorted, "Obviously not. That would be ridiculous." That was just the beginning.

I spent the entire two weeks of my first visit home since my queer transformation absorbing my mother's daily jabs at my clothing (and eventually, anything I said): "So you're earning all this money and can't even afford some nice tops?", "You really should dress your age", "What, you think you're a boy now?" Gender binaries. If there was ever a place for them to thrive unchecked, it would be Lagos, Nigeria, a place where being gay is not just viewed as a choice, but a crime, and -- pending the new anti-LGBT bill being deliberated -- holding hands with your best friend or choosing same-sex roommates could be made punishable for up to 14 years in prison. But while I was plenty aware of the political debate around my identity as a queer African, I couldn't have cared less about the law; I was still trying to survive within the confines of my own home.

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Nigerian human rights leader blames religion for anti-gay persecution

Leo Igwe

Source: Act-Up

One of Africa’s best-known human-rights activists says religion is very much behind Nigeria’s recent outlawing of same-sex unions, which could mean a 14-year jail term for anyone convicted of entering into a gay marriage contract.

Also, according to a report in Nigeria’s Vanguard: “Those who abet or aid such unions could receive 10 years, as would ‘any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations’ – a provision that seems to target gay advocacy groups as well.”

The new legislation also nullifies any certificates of same-sex marriage enacted outside Nigeria.

The Nigerian Senate’s bill has brought howls of protest from various parts of the world, including the US government, which this month expressed its concern over the Draconian legislation.

Leo Igwe, who was until recently the representative for Western and Southern Africa for the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), said in an article in Pink Humanist that faith – both Christian and Islamic, which dominates in the north – often trumps human rights.

Speaking to Digital Journal, Igwe – who formed the Nigerian Humanist Movement in the 1990s – expanded on that view.

“Anybody who doubts it should take a look at the reasons proffered by the senators and other members of the public in support of the bill,” he told me. “The president of the Senate said, ‘My faith as a Christian abhors [same-sex marriage].’ The Anglican Communion, the Catholic and other Christian faith groups have spoken out in support of the bill."

“Under [Islamic] sharia law, homosexuality is an offence punishable by death. So same-sex marriage is haram [forbidden]. And Muslim leaders have openly called for the execution of gays in Nigeria."

“And an islamic scholar said this in support of the bill: ‘Homosexuality and lesbianism are just too dirty in the sight of Allah. Those who engage in them deserve more than capital punishment. When they are killed, their corpse should also be mistreated.’ Just imagine that.”

In Africa as a whole, religion, says Igwe, is to blame for persecution of gay people.

“I would say religion is behind most, not all, of the homophobia coming out of Africa. Religion permeates all aspects of mainstream social, moral and cultural thought. Most homophobes use religion as a basis, as a justification of their hatred and antagonism. I have also encountered non-religious Africans who are homophobic and they base their homophobia on what they claim to be the unnaturality of homosexuality.”

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2011 round-up: Part five: Backlash and repression

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

I'm rounding up the year in a series of posts - in which no doubt I've missed something, so please let me know what I've missed in the comments!

Backlash and repression

A whole new country, South Sudan, was born with a sodomy law and exclusion of LGBT from rights supposed promised to 'all'.

Turkish LGBT groups suffer repeated attempts to legally shut them down and to block their websites.

The increasingly visible LGBT organising in Malaysia suffered a backlash including law change proposals in two states and the banning of events.

An attempt to use gay rights as a 'wedge' issue failed in Zambia as the opposition leader Michael Sata was elected President. Gay rights was also used as a 'wedge' in Zimbabwe, most awfully to divide the Anglican Church leading to Church resources like orphanages closing and children going hungry.

Malawi criminalised lesbians. This was an issue, but a minor issue, in a subsequent aid reduction by the country's biggest donor, the UK. It was mainly the Malawian government's other walk-backs on human rights and a diplomatic spat which caused the UK's change of approach on aid, but it was played up by them as a 'wedge issue' against the opposition with protests against the state of the economy and human rights abuses called 'gay rallies' in state media.

The so-called 'Kill gays' bill failed to pass at the end of Uganda's parliament in May, probably more by luck than design. It has been reintroduced into the current parliament. The bill provoked the biggest international petition drive for LGBT rights ever, well over two million supported different efforts. Activists pleaded for such support to be offered in the context of the general human rights problems in the country, but most solidarity work continued to single out the gay issue from the bigger crisis. Protests against the bill raised, again, the use of development aid redirection from governments and other government-to-government 'leverage' by Western countries in front of and behind the scenes. The atmosphere generated by the bill led to increased government and societal repression of Ugandan LGBT, highlighted by the murder of leader David Kato in January. Three brave Ugandan activists won international human rights awards, including one described as the most important after the Nobel Peace Prize.

There were a series of arrests of gays in Cameroon, followed by convictions including some based solely on people's appearance, not their acts. There was violent rhetoric, organised hunts for gay people using entrapment and the government ended the year proposing a 'tightening' of the anti-gay law.

Anti-gay rhetoric in Ghana's media and agitation by religious leaders over the past few years produced a proposed witch-hunt by a state leader - and subsequent international attention. In the ensuing fallout, local human rights and civil society groups failed to defend LGBT. The year ended with proposals in parliament for further criminalisation of gay people.

Nigeria reintroduced anti-gay legislation which was then extended in the parliament to attack any pro-LGBT human rights organising, potentially fatally undermining HIV/Aids work amongst other impacts.

There were sporadic reports of death sentences for homosexual offenses in Iran but little follow-up on these reports by either media, human rights or LGBT groups due, in part, to issues with verification and dangers to sources in Iran.

Honduras finally acted on the large number of unsolved murders of LGBT in that country, after US prompting. The rate of murders of LGBT elsewhere in Latin America - particularly in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela - drew little international attention. As did the failure of the international community to support devastated local LGBT in Haiti following the earthquake, though the UN finally pledged a response.

Anti-gay laws were passed or proposed in Russia and in Ukraine. Pro-gay demonstrations in Russia, and in Belarus, were banned and violently broken up - whilst vicious anti-gay ones permitted. Though Russians finally won a European Court of Human Rights ruling that the ban on Moscow's gay pride march was illegal.

There were reports of arrests of gay men in Tanzania, Kurdish Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

The Serbian gay pride march was banned, reportedly for political reasons. The gay pride march in Split, Croatia was attacked, video of which ensured worldwide attention but in the capital, Zagreb, pride went ahead with no problems - and little attention. In Montenegro the government publicly backed LGBT rights.

The fake 'Syrian lesbian blogger' scandal in June created a huge international storm, outraging real activists participating in the revolution there. Local LGBT in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region report mixed feelings about the potential outcomes of the 'Arab Spring' for them - in Syria, gays are reportedly divided on participation in that country's revolt. The devastating impact of the Iraq war on LGBT continued to be felt. A new project documented those who have fled to Jordan, but the year went by with almost no media attention to these 'forgotten people'.

A criminalisation attempt in the DRC (Congo) parliament was started then put on hold.

The UK's foreign aid policy relationship to LGBT human rights became the focus of a major backlash following an anti-aid story in a right-wing British newspaper, particularly in Africa and including from some LGBT activists. In a messy PR foul up, the UK was forced to clarify it wasn't planning to remove aid but redirect it.

The so-called 'curing' of LGBT people continued to spread worldwide from its US origins with a backlash in Ecuador leading to closure of some 'clinics' and the discovery of supposed 'conversion therapy' being payed for by Hong Kong's government. In the US itself 'cure the gay' drew both ridicule and outrage, the latter in particular highlighted by a media expose about the suicide of some gay people forced when they were children to go through it and the discovery that a Republican presidential candidate's camp husband was selling 'conversion' therapy.

Related articles

• The battle of the bins in Bulawayo (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• UN publishes landmark LGBT rights report (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

More protests against anti-gay Nigerian bill

By Paul Canning

Nigerian activists with Nigerian LGBTQI in Diaspora, friends and allies, and campaigners with AllOut.org rallied outside of the Nigerian Mission to the United Nations 5 December and delivered a petition with 60,000 signatures.

The Nigerian Senate has passed a bill that would make it a punishable offense—of up to 14-years in prison—for anybody to go to a gay bar, to work for or be involved with LGBT organizations, or to be in an openly gay relationship.

Anyone who doesn't report men or women living together - a 'gay marriage' in this bill - would also be punished. The bill (see copy below) appears to punish anyone supporting LGBT human rights, or even writing about gay people.

After passage through the Senate the bill goes through the House of Representatives before requiring the President's signature.

“Stop turning us into refugees,” Ifeanyi Orazulike, Director of the International Center for Advocacy on Right to Health (ICARH) said at Monday's rally.

“Instead of passing anti-gay laws, Nigeria needs to focus on repealing its sodomy laws, laws that were originally imposed by British colonialism."

The Consul-General of Nigeria to the UN, Mr Habib Habu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that was told that the protesters came around and left after a while without demanding to present their grievances to anyone.

"I learnt it's like people making a brief stop-over for a while. If they had requested for me, I would have received them," he said.

The bill has been publicly criticised by the businessman Richard Branson.

“All of us with influence in Nigeria must do what we can to stop this cruel law. I would urge educated Nigerians all over the world to do what they can to help fight this discrimination,” he wrote.

The small protests, as well as the large petition, have generated substantial media coverage in Nigeria.

As well, BBC News carried this video interview with Queer Alliance activist Rashidi Williams, who was one of the activists shouted down at the Nigerian Senate hearing last month.

An ongoing theme of the reports as well as comments in social media is the impact if the bill becomes law in generating refugees.

Speaking to This Day Live, bisexual Nigerian diaspora activist Yemisi Ilesanmi said:

"Criminalising same sex relationships makes us refugees; it turns us into asylum seekers in other countries. This also affects our beloved country as emigration causes brain drain." 

"Many talented Nigerians are living in Diaspora openly as gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals. We contribute positively to the development of our country of residence but we are afraid to come live and contribute to the development of our motherland because of fear of victimisation. We visit home with trepidation because at home we have to live a life full of lies and deny who we are for us to be accepted.  Why do we want to keep subjecting our citizens to such psychological and emotional torture?" 

"Some Nigerian Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transsexuals and Intersex living in Diaspora are married to same sex partners or planning to do so.  Section 1(3) of this bill states that a valid same sex marriage entered into abroad would not be valid in Nigeria. This is unfair." 

"We as Nigerian LGBTIs living in Diaspora do not want to be isolated from our family members and childhood friends. Many of us grew up in Nigeria and are happy to call Nigeria our motherland. However, because of the misconception surrounding our sexual orientation, and the criminalisation of thereof, we are estranged from our loved ones. Families have been broken, friendship links cut off and hate fostered - all because of ignorance and misunderstanding." 

"Many Africans became intolerant of homosexuality and transsexuals only after foreign religions were imposed on them. In many African cultures, homosexuals and transsexuals were revered and worshipped as spirits of the gods. Sango, the god of thunder was often described as a beautiful man who dressed and accessorised and had his hair braided like a woman. Sango priests, all men, dress in women apparels when performing traditional rituals. Now tell me that is un-African!" 

"I am Proudly African and I am mystified whenever I am accused of "promoting and defending European sexual perversity" (whatever that means). In fact from various historical paintings on Ancient Africans walls, our ancestors enjoyed homosexual sex, affection and love and that was one reason Christian missionary colonisers immediately imported their sodomy laws into our constitutions; they imported homophobia because they thought our free loving ancestors were barbarians!" 

"Many claim Homosexuality is Alien to Africa. I am an African, I am bisexual, I was bisexual before I ever met any white person or stepped foot on European shore, so does that mean I am a fake African?"

• More photos from the rally

Nigeria Same Sex Marriage Bill-final

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'Why Nigeria's anti-gay bill sickens me'

Source: CNN

By Chude Jideonwo

It is important to first understand that no gay Nigerian, as far as anyone knows, is seeking marriage -- in Nigeria.

You can comb the breadth of our decidedly homophobic media ("Homosexuals are in trouble!" crowed The Sun Newspapers, no doubt mirroring the excitement of its upright editorial board), and there is neither anecdotal nor empirical evidence of a clamor, even a quiet one, for gays to be married in churches, mosques or courts.

Still, our legislators were hard at work over a considerable number of weeks while the rest of sane Nigeria, in a state of suspended disbelief, ignored them; convinced that, in a country with pressing issues such as fuel subsidy removal and debilitating insecurity, this frivolous legislation would not see light of day.

Until yesterday when, of course, it did.

Our elected representatives in the Senate, armed with their version of our National Moral Code, took time off urgent national issues to tackle the even more urgent evil of gay marriages. Before we could catch our breaths, our over-paid and under-worked Senators had legalized homophobia.

According to the law, not only is gay marriage a crime punishable by a 14-year jail term, but "any person who registers operates or participates in gay... organizations" faces a decade in jail -- a clause that specifically targets the many active sexuality rights advocacy groups in the country.

By the time the House of Representatives adds its predictable voice to this and the President signs it into law, writing this kind of piece might even risk jail time.

It is important to note though that I and other aware young people who might sometimes be misidentified as the elite, may spend precious hours in vocal incredulity on Twitter and Facebook; shouting down a law that we can hardly do anything about - but we are sadly in the minority, at least for now.

You see, in Nigeria, homophobia is alive and well.

Barely 10 days ago, the influential Nigerian blogger Linda Ikeji, shared what was supposed to be a touching story about a young man, Rashidi Williams, who had faced physical abuse for his sexuality. The comments that followed made my heart sink -- more threats of violence and death. And it wasn't a fringe minority; this is a thriving majority.

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Nigerian legal attack on LGBT worsens

By Paul Canning

Nigeria's Senate 28 November passed an 'anti gay marriage' bill adding further penalties and extending its scope.

The Senate added to provisions targeting those living together (and those who don't report them) with new clauses making it illegal to register gay clubs or organizations, as well as criminalizing the “public show of same-sex amorous relationships directly or indirectly” with 10 years imprisonment.

Says Associated Press:

…The bill also could target human rights and HIV-prevention programs run by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Nigeria, which has the world’s third-largest population of people living with HIV and AIDS. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman declined to immediately comment.

Sen. Baba-Ahmed Yusuf Datti said during Monday's debate:

"Such elements in society should be killed."

Davis Mac Iyalla campaign director of the Nigerian LGBT in diaspora group, said:

“The Nigeria senators have further demonstrated their hate, discrimination and oppression of vulnerable LGBT Nigerians. I call on all respected human rights activists to join forces with us to fight the bill.”

The campaign group expressed its concerns that the bill would further turn many LGBT Nigerians living in diaspora into asylum seekers and refugees. Yemisi Ilesanmi from the group has condemned what she has called the "deafening silence" of Nigerian liberals and the left on the bill. Some Nigerian human rights groups have pointed out that a bill supposedly aimed at gay people will impact marginalised groups like migrant workers, making them subject to bribery demands from police.

The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs) Executive Director- Joseph Sewedo Akoro said:

“The implication of this bill is enormous and threatens TIERs legal position to operate as a human rights organization in Nigeria.”

“We are greatly concerned by this development and hope that the House of Representatives will be careful in dealing with the bill: recognizing the provisions of the constitution towards human rights promotion and international human rights obligations.”

Writing in Behind The Mask, Akoro noted that "International opinion didn’t seem to trouble lawmakers, some of whom laughed and joked during the debate."

"One senator however worried that the bill would hinder the tradition of Nigeria’s Igbo ethnic group in the southeast. In this community infertile wives are allowed to “marry” other women to bear their husbands’ children," he wrote.

TIERs called for other members of the Nigeria Human Rights Community to raise their voice in disapproval of the bill. It also called for both the Nigeria Human Rights Commission and the National Agency on the Control of AIDS to speak out. Neither has thus far.

Peter Tatchell, Director of the human rights advocacy organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation, added: 

"This bill violates the equality and non-discrimination guarantees of Article 42 of the Nigerian Constitution and Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, which Nigeria has signed and pledged to uphold."

"There is a good chance that this bill, and Nigeria's long-standing criminalisation of same-sex relations, can be challenged in the courts. This could be a future option for LGBTI campaigners and human rights defenders."

"The law against homosexuality is not an authentic national law that originated in Nigerian jurisprudence. It was imposed on Nigeria by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century. Despite Nigeria now being an independent country, this British colonial law has never been repealed."

"Our Nigerian colleagues are still hopeful that they can defeat the bill at the next stage. We stand in solidarity with their struggle for LGBTI equality," he said.

Nigerian LGBT in diaspora held a protest in front of the Nigerian House in London recently and there will be another protest rally at the Nigerian embassy in New York, 5 December.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, then for signature by the President, Goodluck Jonathan.

Related articles

• Dirty tricks in Nigerian parliament in anti gay marriage bill push (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Video: Updates on Nigerian anti-gay bill (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Nigerian gays fight blackmail, extortion using the Internet (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: Updates on Nigerian anti-gay bill

By Paul Canning

A vote on Nigeria's proposed anti-gay law is scheduled for next week, according to the group Nigerian LGBTIs in Diaspora Against Anti Same Sex Laws.

The group has been attending the Nigerian parliament to observe proceedings, despite initial difficulties in gaining admittance and following the hostile reception which LGBT advocates received at a hearing on the laws, held 31 October.

The group held a protest at the Nigerian embassy in London, 15 November, and were snubbed by the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida , who refused to meet with them. The Embassy also ordered that the protest move over the road - because 'red carpet' visitors were due to arrive.

Protest organiser Yemisi Ilesanmi told Behind The Mask that “the behaviour was unethical, discriminatory and shows a lack of respect and contempt by the High Commissioner for the citizens of Nigeria especially the LGBT community.”

The protesters carried placards, banners and slogans with messages such as, “Kiss Homophobia, Bi-phobia and Trans-phobia Goodbye,” “Proudly Gay, Proudly Nigerian,” “Some Nigerians are Gay, Get over it,” “Kiss Anti Same Sex marriage bill and Sodomy laws Goodbye” and “Stop turning us into refugees, Repeal Sodomy laws Now!”.

Speaking on the megaphone, Davis Mac-Iyalla urged Nigerians to repent of their homophobia; he also demanded that the Senators should stop peeping into citizens bedrooms and instead take seriously the important task of moving Nigeria’s economy forward.

Tokunbo Oke, a Nigerian human right defender and straight ally urged the Nigerian government to stop its discrimination of Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and Transexuals. He said the emphasis of the Nigerian government should be on curbing corruption and not how to further criminalizing its vulnerable citizens.

The draconian proposed anti-same-sex marriage bill would punish people of the same sex who live together as a couple with up to three years in prison. Anyone who "witnesses, abet[s] and aids" such a relationship could be imprisoned for up to five years. The bill could even be used against foreign same-sex couples if they enter Nigeria.

Damian Ugwu, a rights activist at the Lagos-based Social Justice Advocacy Initiative, said that the bill could have serious implications even for people who aren’t gay. Migrants in search of work in bigger centres are a vulnerable group.

“It’s going to give the Nigerian police, who are already known for abusing their power, a license to violate the rights of both gay and non-gay people. It’s going to create an avenue where young men and women, who often live together in big cities for financial reasons, will become targets for extortion,” he said.

Analysts see the bill, which has been shelved twice in five years, as a potential boost to the popularity of a government whose approval ratings have stalled since elections in April this year. Most Nigerians strongly disapprove of homosexuality, with many seeing it as a foreign import at odds with a deeply religious society.

A 2008 survey by non-profit, Nigeria’s Information for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, of 6,000 Nigerians on their attitudes to homosexuality, found that only 1.4 percent of respondents said they felt “tolerant” towards sexual minorities.

Ilesanmi has condemned what she has called the "deafening silence" of Nigerian liberals and the left on the bill.

"The rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and Intersex not to be discriminated against are not yet considered human rights by Nigerian Left, Progressives, and human rights defenders. In the course of my advocacy for LGBT rights, I have lost many “comrades” as friends, many called me unpalatable names, many used hate speech to describe gays and lesbians, some said it was not the right time to engage in this debate or fight for sexual minority because there are more important issues to be tackled like unemployment, removal of fuel subsidy, corruption." 

"I wonder how the Right to Life and Right to be free from Discrimination could be termed as unimportant by activists. Also disturbing is the fact that few progressives that supported LGBTI rights and signed the online petition I created against the bill, were bullied by the “elite” leftists, our so called ‘senior comrades’ chastised them and claimed they are losing focus!" she wrote.

Video of the London protest:

Read more »

'Insidious' Nigerian anti-gay bill will effect more than gays

Source: IRIN

Rights groups in Nigeria fear a same-sex marriage bill being discussed in parliament could boost already prevalent discrimination against homosexuals. The bill goes much further than banning same-sex marriage; it threatens to ban the formation of groups supporting homosexuality, with imprisonment for anyone who “witnesses, abet[s] or aids” same-gender relationships, and could lead to any discussion or activities related to gay rights being banned.

Under a colonial-era law, sodomy is punishable by a 14-year jail sentence; and in the country’s mainly Muslim northern states, where a version of Shar’ia law applies, the penalty is death by stoning, although this has never officially been carried out.

The National Assembly began debating the latest version of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill in November. Most high-ranking officials have voiced their approval of the bill, signalling it is likely to pass.

Intolerance prevails


Analysts see the bill, which has been shelved twice in five years, as a potential boost to the popularity of a government whose approval ratings have stalled since elections in April this year. Most Nigerians strongly disapprove of homosexuality, with many seeing it as a foreign import at odds with a deeply religious society.

A 2008 survey by non-profit, Nigeria’s Information for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, of 6,000 Nigerians on their attitudes to homosexuality, found that only 1.4 percent of respondents said they felt “tolerant” towards sexual minorities.

A university student in the northern state of Jigawa was killed in 2002 when classmates set upon him after rumours that he was gay.

In September 2008, several national newspapers published the names, addresses and photographs of the pastor and congregation of a church in the port city of Lagos that ministered to sexual minorities. A few days later a mob that included policemen attacked the church. Members of the congregation lost jobs and homes and had to go into hiding; others are still harassed and threatened with physical harm, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“Homosexual and lesbian practices are considered offensive to public morality in Nigeria. The… bill is crucial to our national development because it seeks to protect the traditional family, which is the fundamental unit of society, especially in our country,” said the influential newspaper, This Day, in its editorial on 10 November. “It will be difficult to import practices and lifestyles which are alien to our country and the majority of our people.”

Read more »

Ghanaian gays also fight blackmail, extortion using the Internet

Graham Knight writes to point out that it is not just Nigerian gays attacking the scammers and blackmailers online (see Nigerian gays fight blackmail, extortion using the Internet) - Ghanaians are too.

Gay Dating Scams in Ghana has been in operation for at least three years.

As with Nigeria, they say that the law acts as a ‘blackmailers charter’:

As homosexuality is illegal in Ghana, MSM’s have no protection under the law and reporting a crime can lead to the victim being criminalised.

Furthermore, the police often work with the criminals to extort money and therefore cannot be trusted.

fakers2go monitors and exposes these scammers.

Nigerian gays fight blackmail, extortion using the Internet

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Nigeria pushes on with draconian anti-gay bill

Nigerian parliament

By Paul Canning

Nigerian and international human rights bodies have opposed that country's draconian proposed anti-same-sex marriage bill.

The bill would punish people of the same sex who live together as a couple with up to three years in prison. Anyone who "witnesses, abet[s] and aids" such a relationship could be imprisoned for up to five years. The bill could even be used against foreigners in same-sex marriages if they enter Nigeria.

In a letter to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission, and other national, regional and international bodies urged legislators to reject the bill. If passed, the groups appealed to Jonathan to veto it.

Nigeria's parliament has twice before seen anti-gay bills. Both times they ended up being dropped in the face of civil society protest in Nigeria supported by an international outcry. Article 214 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act already provides up to 14 years in prison for anyone who "has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature."

According to a report in Behind The Mask, legislators are trying to get this bill passed by ‘wrong footing’ Nigerian activists and international attention. But opponents managed to attend a first parliamentary hearing 31 October.

At the same time a care2 petition with over 12,000 signatures was presented.

According to Yemisi Ilesanmi of Nigerian LGBTI in Diaspora Against Anti Same Sex Laws:

"A lady from the LGBT coalition stepped forward [at the hearing] to present the position paper of Nigeria LGBTI in Diaspora Against Same Sex Laws. She was interjected many times by different religious and other homophobic groups present in the room with the aim to bully and humiliate her. She bravely carried on with the presentation of the paper amidst all the distractions. However, she was soon overwhelmed by the unruly crowd and eventually broke down in tears."

"She managed to finish the presentation amidst abuses and offensive calls mostly from religious groups present. The senators immediately assailed her with so many questions without giving her any space to catch her breath. Many of the questions asked were irrelevant and mostly intended to humiliate her; in fact many of the questions would pass as hate comments in any civilized country. Some of the questions asked by the senators were “Do you believe in God?” “Are you a lesbian?” “Do you know that homosexuality was imported from the western world to Africa?” Her response that she is a Catholic generated a lot of unprintable remarks."

When a woman from a Catholic lawyers’ group spoke saying that homosexuals are mentally deranged people and that no one in the room would openly identify as a homosexual, one of the bill's opponents stood up and said "I am a gay and proud to be!"

He said that cameras immediately focused on him and religious groups started screaming abuses.

He was disappointed to see that no one else stood with him that time, but later during the hearing " four courageous faces" stood with him out of 30 LGBT people present. Those who did not explained later that they feared the consequences of publicly identifying as gay.

There was a great disparity in allotted time at the hearing, says Ilesanmi, and amongst those supporting the bill were the Inspector General of the Nigerian Police and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Ilesanmi said that in a secular state the Senators violated the fundamental rights of the activists by condoning abuses directed at them and encouraging religious questions.

The international groups opposing the bill point out that:

Criminalizing individuals for "living together as husband and wife" further expands existing anti-gay punishments. They would no longer be limited to sexual acts between people of the same sex, but would potentially include mere cohabitation or any suspected "intimate relationship" between members of the same sex. Far less evidence would be needed for conviction, and prejudice and suspicion would be a basis for arrests. This threatens all Nigerians' right to private life, the groups said. 

The proposed five-year sentence for anyone who "witnesses, abet[s] and aids" a same-sex relationship is greater than the punishment stipulated in the bill for those who enter into a "same gender marriage." This provision could be used to punish anyone who gives any help or advice to a suspected "same gender" couple, for example, anyone who tells them their rights or approves of their relationships. Advocates, civil society organizations, and human rights defenders would be ready targets.

Related articles

• Dirty tricks in Nigerian parliament in anti gay marriage bill push (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• West Africa Lgbti Rights Activists Report Country Situations (mask.org.za)
• Gay marriage would put Nigeria on the road to moral decay and godlessness (freethinker.co.uk)

Nigeria: Marriage Ban Would Attack Rights, Invade Privacy, Threaten Broad Range of Activists

Nigerian parliament

Source: Human Rights Watch

The bill before Nigeria's National Assembly to ban "same gender marriage" would threaten all Nigerians' rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission [IGLHRC] said today.

The bill, under consideration for the third time in five years, would expand Nigeria's already draconian punishments for consensual same-sex conduct and set a precedent that would threaten all Nigerians' rights to privacy, equality, free expression, association, and to be free from discrimination, the groups said.

In a letter to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission, and other national, regional and international bodies, the groups urged legislators to reject the bill. If passed, the groups appealed to Jonathan to veto it. The first public hearing on the bill was heard yesterday [Oct. 29]. On opening the hearing, the Senate president, Senator David Mark, remarked that same-gender marriage "is offensive to our culture and tradition."

"This is an insidious bill that appears to be limited to same gender marriage, but is actually an attack on basic rights," said Graeme Reid, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights director at Human Rights Watch. "The definition of 'same gender marriage' is so broad as to include anyone even suspected of being in a same-sex relationship. And it threatens human rights defenders by targeting people who support unpopular causes."

On September 27, 2011, the Senate approved the bill "to prohibit marriage between persons of the same gender" on second reading. The bill defines "same gender marriage" as "the coming together of persons of the same sex with the purpose of leaving together as husband and wife or for other purposes of same sexual relationship." The bill would punish people of the same sex who live together as a couple with up to three years in prison. Anyone who "witnesses, abet[s] and aids" such a relationship could be imprisoned for up to five years.

This is despite the fact that, during the debate of the 2009 Universal Periodic Review of Nigeria [at the UN's Human Rights Council], the government stated that "as citizens, all Nigerians have their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution."

A variation of the bill appeared before the National Assembly in 2006, but never went to a vote. This version was introduced in 2008 and went through two readings, but was quietly dropped in the face of civil society protest in Nigeria supported by an international outcry. It was re-introduced in 2011. If the Senate approves the bill on a third reading, it would have to be approved by the House of Representatives and Jonathan to become law.

Members of the Senate justified the bill by comparing same-sex relationships to incest and describing same-sex conduct as "criminal," "ungodly" and "unnatural," making clear that they see the marriage ban as broadening the deterrent to homosexuality in Nigeria.

Article 214 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act already provides up to 14 years in prison for anyone who "has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature." As Human Rights Watch documented in a 2008 report, this law is a Victorian-era provision that remained after the end of British colonial rule. Sharia penal codes, introduced in northern Nigeria in 1999, criminalize "sodomy" with death by stoning."

The Bill extends criminal penalties for same-sex consensual behavior, and significantly widens the scope of who can be targeted by the legislation," said Erwin van der Borght of Amnesty International. "The Bill would also target anyone who attends a real or suspected ceremony or gathering, or anyone who 'witnesses, abet[s] and aids' a same-sex relationship."

The proposed law contravenes several provisions of regional and international human rights standards, the groups said. Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights promises everyone equal entitlement to rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind; article 3 of the charter guarantees equality before the law; and article 26 states that:

"Every individual shall have the duty to respect and consider his fellow beings without discrimination and to maintain relations aimed at promoting, safeguarding and reinforcing mutual respect and tolerance."

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which authoritatively interprets the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and evaluates states' compliance with its provisions, found in the 1994 case of Toonen v. Australia that laws criminalizing consensual, adult homosexual conduct violate the covenant's protections for privacy and against discrimination. Nigeria acceded to the covenant without reservations in 1993.

"As Africa's most populous country, and an emerging world leader, Nigeria has a special responsibility to see beyond narrow, personalized values and embrace a world view that is inclusive of the rights of all of its citizens," said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC executive director. "Nigeria is a vast and diverse country. LGBT people are part of that rich tapestry."

In their letter, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission pointed to grave human rights issues raised by the proposed law:

• The evident intent of the new bill is to extend the already-existing penalties for consensual same-sex conduct.
• Criminalizing individuals for "leaving together as husband and wife" further expands these punishments. They would no longer be limited to sexual acts between people of the same sex, but would potentially include mere cohabitation or any suspected "intimate relationship" between members of the same sex. Far less evidence would be needed for conviction, and prejudice and suspicion would be a basis for arrests. This threatens all Nigerians' right to private life, the groups said.
• The proposed five-year sentence for anyone who "witnesses, abet[s] and aids" a same-sex relationship is greater than the punishment stipulated in the bill for those who enter into a "same gender marriage." This provision could be used to punish anyone who gives any help or advice to a suspected "same gender" couple, for example, anyone who tells them their rights or approves of their relationships. Advocates, civil society organizations, and human rights defenders would be ready targets.
• Under the bill's provisions, anyone - whether Nigerian or foreign - who enters into a "same gender marriage," or simply has a "same gender relationship" in another country and wishes to continue it in Nigeria, could be subject to criminal penalties when they set foot on Nigerian soil. This provides the state with even broader powers to invade people's privacy.

The 2006 version proposed by Nigeria's justice minister sought to criminalize not only same-sex unions but also public advocacy and associations supporting the rights of lesbian and gay people. Sixteen human rights groups from Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world condemned the bill for violating the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly guaranteed by international law, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and for jeopardizing the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country.

Nigeria has the world's third-largest population of people living with AIDS. The proposed bill would further hinder HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts, the groups said, by driving some groups affected by the epidemic further underground for fear of violence. The 2010 Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) country report on Nigeria recognized that criminalization of vulnerable populations, including men who have sex with men, makes HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts less accessible to them. The 2010 UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic similarly noted that that obstacles to effective HIV prevention in Nigeria were existing "laws, regulations, policies obstructing access to treatment, care and support for vulnerable sub-populations." The proposed bill will only exacerbate this problem, the groups said.

The 2011 UN "Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS" adopted at the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS in June noted that "many national HIV prevention strategies inadequately focus on populations that epidemiological evidence shows are at higher risk," including men who have sex with men. The bill flies in the face of the UN declaration, the groups said.

Violence against LGBT people is frequent in Nigeria. In September 2008, several national newspapers published articles criticizing a Christian church in Lagos that ministers to LGBT people. The articles included names, addresses, and photographs of members of the congregation and the church's pastor. Police harassment and threats forced the church to shut down and the pastor to flee the country. Some members of the congregation lost their jobs and homes and had to go into hiding. Several are still under threat of physical harm and harassment."

The LGBT community in Nigeria is already isolated, marginalized and unable to access several of the rights enshrined in the Nigerian constitution," Reid said. "If this bill passes into law, the Nigerian government will be sanctioning even greater discrimination and violence against an already vulnerable group. This bill and its unconstitutional provisions should be laid to rest once and for all."

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on LGBT rights, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/lgbt

Related articles

• Dirty tricks in Nigerian parliament in anti gay marriage bill push (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Third Time Unlucky? New Bill Prohibiting Same Sex Marriage Placed Before Nigerian Parliament (mask.org.za)

Dirty tricks in Nigerian parliament in anti gay marriage bill push

Nigeria parliament image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

Following two previous attempts the Nigerian parliament has revived its efforts at further criminalising homosexuality in a new bill: "An Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization Of Same And For Other Matters Related Therewith".

And according to a report in Behind The Mask they are trying to get it passed by 'wrong footing' Nigerian activists and international attention.

Olumide Makanjuola, Director of Program of the Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs) based in Lagos said:

“I will not be surprised if we read from the press, the same way we read about the bill, that the public hearing happened and the senate passed the bill."

The bill was actually introduced into the Senate in July but information about its existence was only published this month. Public hearings about the bill have not been published, which is not usual, even though they are not a legal requirement. It is at a public hearing that Nigerian human rights groups can express their opposition.

"This might be a trick to speedily pass the bill at the senate without intervention of human rights activists,” said Makanjuola.

Yemisi Ilesanmi, coordinator of Nigerian LGBT in Diaspora Against Same Sex Laws, said.

"Lawmakers are fast tracking the bill. There are concerns within the Nigerian LGBT community that the recent bomb blasts in the country would be used as a pretext to deny public access to the hearing."

The bill is currently being scrutinized by the Senate’s committees on Human rights and Judicial Matters, Health and Culture and Tourism. The committees are expected to review the bill and provide recommendation to the house at the third reading.

The bill says:

1.–(1) "Marriage Contract entered between persons of same Gender is hereby prohibited in Nigeria."
1.–(3) "Marriage Contract entered between persons of same gender by virtue a certificate issued by a foreign country shall be void in Nigeria, and any benefits accruing there from by virtue of the certificate shall not be enforced by any court of law in Nigeria."
6. "Same Gender Marriage" means the coming together of persons of the same sex with the purpose of living together as husband and wife or for other purposes of same sexual relationship."

It criminalises anyone who “witnesses, abets and aids the solemnization of a same gender marriage contract,” but it does not define what witnessing or abetting means.

The Bill's sponsor, Senator Domingo Obende, said in parliament that the bill is needed because "same sex marriage is spreading and spreading round the whole world just like pornography and terrorism which has become the order of the day if not arrested on time."

If the Senate passes the bill it will then go to the lower chamber, the House of Representatives. The House will go through the same process as the Senate. If passed, the bill then goes to the President for his assent.

Nigeria already criminalises homosexuality with up to 14 years imprisonment. In some Northern states there is the death penalty under Sharia law, although this has never been carried out.

Ilesanmi said that:

"This bill would lead to harassment of people for their actual or imputed sexual orientation. It would also stifle freedom of expression and association through the proposed ban on organizations that support lesbian and gay rights." 

"The passing of the bill would give official validation to the harassment of sexual minorities and many homophobic persons would use it as a license to discriminate against lesbians and gays," said Ms Ilesanmi. 

Some human rights organizations in Nigeria have condemned the bill and Behind The Mask has reported on comments on Nigerian online news websites against the bill.

The Coalition for the Defense of Sexual Rights in its press statement said:

"We wish to remind the parliament that, Nigeria is a secular state. Therefore, implicating that laws of our land cannot and should not be drafted and/or enact on the basis of religious and cultural value. This value already differ as Nigeria is a heterogeneous society, hence our federal system of government."

Previous attempts to further criminalise homosexuality in 2006 and 2009 were quietly shelved following international condemnation.

• Petition: Nigeria: Stop the anti-same sex marriage bill, decriminalize same sex love!
  

Related articles

• Nigeria Human Rights Defenders Condemn 2011 Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill (mask.org.za)
• Nigerian anti-same-sex marriage bill debated (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Nigerian anti-same-sex marriage bill debated

Image via Wikipedia

Via Box Turtle Bulletin

By Jim Burroway

The West African country whose over-reaching attempt in 2009 to impose severe penalties on human rights advocacy and free association for its LGBT citizens under the guise of “banning” same sex marriage was met with international alarm from human rights activists, is at it again. The Nigerian Senate debated a bill yesterday which would make entering into a same-sex marriage a criminal offense, with three years’ imprisonment for couples convicted of being married, and five years’ imprisonment for anyone who “witnesses, abets and aides” the solemnization of the marriage. Homosexuality is already a criminal offense in Nigeria, where it carries a penalty of fourteen years imprisonment in the south and capital punishment in areas in the north which are under Sharia Islamic Law. Nigeria’s The Daily Times reports that the bill passed it first reading on July 13, and that no Senators rose to oppose the bill during Tuesday’s debate.

It is unknown at this time what the exact provisions under the new law would be [see below for more]. The proposed 2009 law which ostensibly banned same-sex marriage went much further than simply addressing same sex marriage. The 2009 proposal, like its current incarnation, provided for a prison sentence of three years for anyone who has “entered into a same gender marriage contract,” and it also would have defined same-sex marriage as any gay couples found living together. Also like the new proposal, it also provided for five years’ imprisonment or a fine for anyone who “witnesses, abet and aids the solemnization” of a same-sex marriage. But the 2009 law also went much further, by making criminals of anyone working in organizations which advocate for gay rights. LGBT advocates point pointed out that the proposed bill law would punish those who “aids and abets” people to live together with a tougher sentence than the couple concerned.
It is unknown at this time what, if any, additional provisions are included in the current proposal.

Spokesperson for the Nigerian Senate expect the bill to pass by the end of next year. The United States State Department have joined international human rights groups in strongly condemning the bill, pointing out that it would the freedoms of expression, association and assembly guaranteed by international law as well as by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The law would also impose an impediment to the struggle against the spread of AIDS in the oil-producing west African nation.

~~~

A BTB reader found a copy of Nigeria’s latest proposal to not just ban same-sex marriage (it’s already illegal in Nigeria), but to impose criminal penalties on anyone who enters into a same-sex marriage — as well as for anyone who “witnesses, abets and aids the solemnization of a same gender marriage contract.” The penalty for entering into a same-sex marriage under the proposed measure would be three years’ imprisonment. The penalty for witnessing/aiding/abeting a marriage would bring five years imprisonment or a fine of ₦2,000 (2,000 naria, or US$13 in a country where the average annual income is US$1,200). If a group of persons witness/aid/abet a marriage, the fine is ₦50,000. It’s unclear whether two people at a wedding would be considered two individuals or a group. The bill also does not define what constitutes witnessing, abetting or aiding in the solemnization of a marriage.

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The Guardian tells stories of LGBT from Africa, Middle East

Image via Wikipedia

Source: The Guardian

Bisi Alimi, from Nigeria

In 2002, I was at university in Nigeria and standing for election. A magazine wrote about me and exposed me as being gay. This led the university to set up a disciplinary committee. I was very nearly dismissed. When I did graduate, people wanted to refuse me my certificate on the grounds that I did not have good enough morals to be an alumnus of the university. While this was going on, the then-president, Olusegun Obasanjo, declared that there were no homosexuals in Nigeria, and that such a thing would not be allowed in the country.

I talked with a friend of mine, who is a famous Nigerian talkshow host, about challenging this opinion. Nobody had come out publicly before. So, in October 2004, I appeared on her breakfast show, New Dawn with Funmi Iyanda". I talked about my sexuality, the burden of the HIV epidemic in the gay community.

The reaction was immediate and violent. I was subjected to brutality from the police and the community. I was disowned by my family and lost many friends, including in the gay community. They were afraid to know me. I was isolated, with no support and no job. The TV show was taken off the air by the government. It led to the introduction of the Same Sex Prohibition bill of 2006. All I had done was say who I was. Three years later I appeared on the BBC World Service. I repeated what I had said on television in Nigeria and suggested my government was using attacks on homosexuality to help cover up its own corruption.

On my arrival back to Nigeria, I was arrested, detained and beaten by the police. For a month, until I fled back to the UK in April 2007, my life was in constant danger.

Nassr, from Iraq

I was working for the Americans as a translator. When I got back to Iraq, I found that my house had been confiscated by the Mahdi militia. They are Shia, I am Christian. When I knocked on the door, I said: "This is my house." They said: "This is not your house. Either you go or we kill you." They beat me. They hit me on my head with their guns. I ran away, so they went after my sons instead. I heard they had asked my neighbours about me, and the neighbours had told them I am gay. I was now in real danger.

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In UK, ‘inhumane treatment’ of black deportees slammed by report

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Source: The Voice

By Merissa Richards

Nigerian and Jamaican immigration detainees have been subjected to degrading treatment, use of force and racist language from private security officers while being removed from the UK, according to two major reports.

The reports, from Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick, were compiled after inspectors accompanied 104 security officers who escorted 35 detainees to Jamaica, and another 131 security staff who escorted 53 detainees to Lagos, Nigeria and in March and April of this year.

The security guards were employed by private security firm G4S and escorted the deportees on behalf of the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

The Jamaican report said:

“Some were placed in handcuffs for long periods despite showing no evidence of resistance or violence. It was particularly concerning that staff had not received full accredited training for use of force in confined spaces.”

Nigerian detainees also suffered similar indignities according to the second report called Detainees Under Escort: Inspection Of Escort And Removals To Nigeria.

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Heterosexual Africa? Notes from the struggle for sexual rights

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Royal Africa Society

By Marc Epprecht

Not every story out of Africa is doom and gloom, even on topics like “the rise of homophobia.” To be sure, there have been some recent shocking cases of violence and hate-mongering against gays, lesbians, and trans people around the continent. Governments in many countries are meanwhile proposing to reform laws inherited from former colonial rulers, moving toward greater repression and in divergence from major international bodies and public health initiatives. Were Uganda to enact and enforce its proposed Anti-Homosexuality bill, to give one of the most notorious examples, it would be required to withdraw from the United Nations and African Union, sever links with all its major donors, and arrest a large proportion of the heterosexual population for knowing (but not reporting to the police) suspected homosexuals or human rights and sexual health advocates.

Another side of this story, however, does not get as much attention. This is the story of the emergence of a vibrant lgbti (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex) network across the continent, of creative and courageous challenges to homophobia, of sensitive and insightful new research into “sexual secrets,” and of political and religious leaders who are resisting the demagogic tide. How many people are aware that six African nations endorsed the recent UN General Assembly resolution to include sexual orientation in the universal declaration of human rights?

Alright, the Central African Republic and Gabon are not among the heavy weight or vanguardist states in Africa. One is probably justified to suspect neo-colonial arm-twisting upon them by their major donor (and the resolution’s sponsor - France). Nonetheless, a precedent has been set. It is not politically impossible for African governments to support an inclusive definition of sexual rights as understood by liberals in the West. Sexual rights activists in Africa, with international solidarity, are actively pursuing those rights through a range of strategies and fora, including through the mass media, the courts and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

This is not going to be an easy struggle. It is not just that overt homophobes seem to be proliferating in the context of intense rivalry between evangelist Christian and Muslim faiths and opportunistic (mostly American) missionaries. There is also a profound, ongoing economic and health crisis across much of the continent. This makes it extremely difficult for sexual rights and sexual health advocates to make their case in the public eye. How to convince unemployed youth, landless peasants, and women trapped in abusive marriages or survival sex work, that freedom for men to have consensual sex will improve their lives? This is particularly challenging given the widespread stereotype in Africa that gays and lesbians are economically privileged and well-connected to opportunities in the West.

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FIFA to investigate homophobic Nigerian women's football coach

No lesbians here

By Paul Canning

The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) say they have opened an investigation into homophobic comments made by Nigerian football coach Eucharia Uche.

In June we reported how Coach Uche, the former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) technical assistant Sir James Peters, and the NFF's Chief Media Officer, Ademola Olajire, had all bragged to a Nigerian newspaper about driving lesbians out of the women's team.

"When I was drafted to work with the Falcons last year, I decamped some of the players, not because they were not good players, but because they were lesbians. It did not go down well with some of the players because we made sure that neither the 'husband' nor the 'wife' made the team,” Peters said.

"We have seen the result of our efforts and I can tell you that lesbianism is now a thing of the past in the camp of the Super Falcons [the team's nickname]," said Uche.

The controversy over the banning of lesbians from Nigeria's women's football team dominated coverage of their bid for the World Cup in Germany in June.

Uche told media covering the Cup that it was all a misunderstanding, saying "I'm sorry that such a situation has arisen. I've never made such statements."

Speaking to German television channel ARD during the Cup, Tatjana Haenni, FIFA's head of women's competitions, said that "FIFA is against all forms of discrimination." Haenni said FIFA would be talking to Uche about her comments and reminding the coach of the governing bodies statutes.

The investigation is promised in a letter from FIFA 5 September to the International Association of Gay and Lesbian Football (Iglfa), the Federation of Gay Games and the campaigning organisation AllOut.org.

Andre Banks of Allout.org, who led a campaign for action against homophobia in women's football which generated a 46,000 petition and protests during the Women's World Cup in Germany, said they were ""excited to see FIFA take a first, critical step."

"By launching an immediate probe into coach Uche's homophobic statements, the international governing body of soccer is sending a clear and important message: homophobia has no place in football, on or off the field."

FIFA has earlier been heavily criticised for awarding the Men's Word Cup to Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.

Last month a leading French activist urged the French government and French Football Federation to seek "a specific intervention" with 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar "so that this country decriminalise homosexuality and put an end to discrimination suffered by people living with AIDS."

Related articles

• France urged to protest Qatar's World Cup over homophobia, HIV/Aids discrimination (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• FIFA targeted after news of ban on lesbian football players (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Nigeria's women's football team 'bans lesbians', FIFA criticised (madikazemi.blogspot.com) 
• Video: Protest continues on Nigerian football homophobia (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: US religious right target international bodies, ally with Iran, support anti-gay Africans

Source: Stand for the Family

Sharon Slater discusses the work of Family Watch International. the importance of protecting the institution of the family in order to maintain our fundamental freedoms, the International Planned Parenthood booklet, Healthy, Happy, and Hot that she picked up at the Girl Scout meeting at the UN that promotes sexual rights and sexual pleasure for youth, and she describes her new book, Stand for the Family which was designed to equip citizens with the talking points, facts, and research they need to defend marriage, life religious freedom and parental rights and much more.




Source: Religion Dispatches

By Warren Throckmorton

Sharon Slater, American anti-gay activist and president of Family Watch International, recently encouraged delegates attending a law conference in Lagos, Nigeria to resist the United Nations’ calls to decriminalize homosexuality.

Keynoting the Nigerian Bar Association Conference, Slater told delegates that they would lose their religious and parental rights if they supported “fictitious sexual rights.” One such “fictitious right” is the right to engage in same-sex sexual relationships without going to jail.

According to an email from the organization, Slater’s efforts are already getting results. A week after Slater’s speech, husband Greg Slater, FWI’s legal adviser, told supporters in an email:

As the most populous and one of the wealthiest African counties, Nigeria can serve as a strong role model for other governments in the region to follow on how to hold on to their family values despite intense international pressure. In fact, several days after the conference, the head of the Anglican Church called upon the Nigerian government to withdraw from the United Nations because of its push to further the cause of homosexuality.

In Nigeria, homosexual behavior is illegal and punishable by up to 14 years in prison. In the Islamic North, where Sharia law is enforced, gays can be sentenced to death by stoning.

According to Family Watch International, Nigeria is a role model.

“Aggravated Homosexuality”

A nonprofit organization, Arizona-based FWI is affiliated with the World Congress of Families, an Illinois think tank which conducts international conferences to promote their vision for “the natural family”—“the fundamental social unit, inscribed in human nature, and centered around the voluntary union of a man and a woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage.”

Most of the conferences are outside the United States and have focused on developing nations where their conservative message resonates well. Like FWI, the World Congress of Families opposes decriminalization of homosexuality. For instance, WCF opposed the 2009 UN resolution calling for decriminalization of homosexuality and downplayed the harshness of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill in a 2009 newsletter. For FWI and WCF, supporting the natural family means resisting the right of GLBT people to live without threat of jail for private conduct.

FWI once considered Uganda’s notorious anti-gay pastor, Martin Ssempa, a volunteer coordinator for Africa. However, according to its website, FWI broke with Ssempa about the same time Ssempa’s support for Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality bill became public. Although Ssempa’s name is still listed as a volunteer, there is a new description accompanying it:

Martin Ssempa, FWI African Coordinator (volunteer) — Martin Ssempa was associated with Family Watch International because of his extensive work with youth promoting abstinence-based HIV education in Uganda. This association ended when Family Watch became aware of Mr. Ssempa’a support of the proposed law in Uganda calling for the execution of homosexuals who engaged in “aggravated homosexuality” (defined as homosexual sex between an adult and a minor or when a person infected with HIV knowingly has sex with another person putting them at risk for contracting HIV).

Slater: “It’s Complicated”

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