OK, kiddo! Here are all the fantastically amazing posts tagged with Nigeria

Church Proposes Jail Time for Attending Gay Weddings

March 18th, 2009

Check his pockets for rice!

James over at Gay Persons of Color has dug up an unreal story about the Anglican Church of Nigeria and their formal proposal to jail anyone who participates in a gay wedding.

The proposed law, delivered to a parliamentary committee this week, would incarcerate gay couples who get married for five years, as well as any witnesses to the ceremony for one year.

Well…  Someone’s awfully cranky.

Many governments worldwide are actively homophobic, but jailing well-wishers who simply attend a gay wedding would, essentially, make it illegal not to be homophobic.

But perhaps there’ll be nothing to worry about. As James points out, the proposed law would be entirely moot—at least, according to the government. Just last month, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that an exhaustive, country-wide search for gays and lesbians had been carried out and that they “could not come across any Nigerian with such sexuality.”

Canada To Deport Another Gay Refugee

July 9th, 2008

IRB Goggles

Canada is all set to deport Jane Okojie, a bisexual Nigerian woman, because the Immigration and Refugee Board did not believe that her sexuality would be an issue in her home country. Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria, and those suspected of being gay can be jailed or worse.

Jane said that she is terrified, claiming that she was already detained in Nigeria after authorities discovered she was bisexual:

In Nigeria things are very bad for lesbians and gay people. If you are a bisexual or lesbian or gay you can be stoned to death and you can be sentenced to prison for many many years. The government doesn’t care.

Since arriving in Canada, Jane has given birth to a daughter who is now 18 months old. If deported, Jane will have to bring her daughter out of the country as well.

Canada has an atrocious record of deporting gay refugees to countries where homosexuality is illegal. While Jane has been granted a temporary stay due to the removal of her immigration lawyer, the Immigration and Refugee Board has already refused Jane’s refugee status and has rejected a stay based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Anything Remotely Gay To Be Outlawed in Nigeria

February 23rd, 2007

Nigeria Redecorating

Get ready for some serious closet!

A Nigerian bill is poised to outlaw anything that’s remotely close to being interpreted as sort of gay in the country. The bill prescribes a five-year prison sentence for—are you ready for this? Meeting with gays, promoting equality for gays, donating money to gay organisations, expressing gay love in letters and emails, attending or participating in a gay wedding or ceremony, publishing, selling, renting, or loaning a gay book or video, taking or possessing pictures of a gay couple, selling or renting housing to gay couples, and visiting, hosting, or creating gay websites. That, of course, in addition to the harsher interpretations.

Hey, how about that? Slap’s actually illegal somewhere! Kudos to you, my law-breaking visitors!

Anyway, misinformation about homosexuality is rampant in Nigeria. A special advisor to the president recently announced that being in a same-sex relationship directly causes “mental retardation, and high tendency to commit suicide.”

Fascinating, no?