STILL ON THE ANTI – GAY LAW.

STILL ON THE ANTI – GAY LAW.

On the 7^th day of January 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) bill into law illegalizing the act of Homosexuality and the Gay Marriages commonly termed “Civil Union” became a criminal offense punishable with 14-year jail term and his action stirred a lot of controversies.

For clarity sake, I would like to state categorically that I am not a gay, I have never wanted to be gay and I will never be one. But alas, a critical analysis of this law would reveal that there is more to it than meets the eye because it is not in accordance with what the 1999 constitution stipulates on the right to associate, freedom of choice and rights to privacy and private life. The law criminalizes exclusively the freedom to associate with the members of the GLBT (Gays, Lesbians, Bi-Sexual and the Transgendered) community with a minimum of 7 (seven) years imprisonment and what I am eager to ask is, how many years of imprisonment is supposed to be handed to people like Yakub Lawan, Stella Oduah and others charged with outright corruption and embezzlement of public funds meant to better the lot of hundreds of millions of Nigerians? How many years of imprisonment is meant for those people aiding and abetting these corrupt public office  holders and those trying to fool us by covering the tracks of these corrupted minds has it is in the case of Stella Oduah where the President has turned all deft ears on the issue?

Moving swiftly on, a lot of public reactions followed the controversial move, some singing the praise of the President, commending him for the move and saying that this is the best thing he has done since the inception of his administration, some articles were written; researches carried out, but the one that really prompted me to write this piece is an article that was written by Mrs. Oluchi Ukwuoma titled,  “On The Homosexual Debate”, published in The Punch on Wednesday, 29^th January, 2014 where the above named writer based her facts on recent findings, biblical verses, the fact that we are not bound to inherit every insanity from the western world in the name of civilization and that homosexuality was regarded a taboo in African culture even before the advent of colonization, Christianity and Islam. She wrote about how homosexuality was regarded as a mental condition prior to 1973 when the American Physiciatic Association expunged homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Medical Disorders but what I am curious to state is that; Slave trade was the norm in the 18^th and 19^th century, did that make it legal or acceptable? The elimination of twins in some parts of south western Nigeria in the 19^th century was rampant before Mary Slessor and some British missionaries stopped it out rightly; did that make it right? My point here is; the fact that the act of homosexuality was considered a mental condition by the APA prior to 1973 did not make it right or wrong.

In some part of the article, Mrs. Ukuoma stated thus, “No responsible parent or government would expose their children to harm and, in response to Abidde’s question, yes, “the private and consensual behaviour of homosexuals are capable of impeding the growth and development of our dear country” However, what I would like to ask her if I have the opportunity to meet her in person is “How many parents and guardians in this country really have the time and will to supervise and restrict internet usage, visit to pornographic sites, television programmes that are detrimental, friends and peer groups of their children and wards? What has the government {at federal, state and local levels} done to put an end to the increasing excessive usage of the internet as an accomplice to pornography? Some Nollywood movies are so erotic to the point that you would have yourself to blame if you watch them with children and I would like to know what the government has done through the  National Film and Video Censors Board [NFVCB] to nip that ugly and immoral trend in the bud? And my final question is, ‘’collectively as a country, what have we all done to address irresponsible and immoral dressing because of its adverse effect on rape cases?

On the flip side, please permit me to categorize my arguments against the Anti-gay law based on my extensive research findings which took weeks to put together on;

v Homosexuality is not really a choice and that the GLBTs are human beings that pay equal taxes and levies, law abiding citizens like their heterosexual counterparts and as a result of these deserve the same rights and privileges in the society which also include the right to marriage and a family life.

v GLBTs are highly discriminated against, to a large extent Gays are viewed has effeminate, lesbians are portrayed as mannish and both are seen as being obsessed with sex with little self-control or morality which is largely not true.

v Arguments against Homosexuality and the GLBT community are largely based on religious and cultural believes and prejudice. Examples of this abound; Reuben Abati, the Presidential spokesman and media assistant was quoted as saying, "This is a law that is in line with the people's cultural and religious inclination" when he was defending the passage of the Anti-Gay Law.

v Homosexuality is seen as extremely sinful, immoral and regarded as highly mysterious.

Conclusively, I would like to quote the response of Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate, who simply said, “What people do in their bedrooms is no business of mine.” with the exemplary case that changed everything about Homosexuality in the United States –in the Lawrence V. Texas case. The Supreme Court of the United States dramatically reversed its position on homosexual rights in June 2003 in the case, in a 6 to 3 decision, the Court found that a Texas law prohibiting oral or anal sex between couples of the same sex was unconstitutional. The majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, reversed an earlier 1986 Court ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick that upheld a similar law in the state of Georgia. In that case, the Court had ridiculed the claim that homosexuals had a fundamental right to privacy as “facetious at best” and argued that contempt for homosexuality had “ancient roots” in Western jurisprudence. Kennedy’s opinion took sharp aim at both arguments, finding that “Bowers was not correct when it was decided, is not correct today, and is hereby overruled.”

God Bless Us All

Olusanya Oluwole Sheriff