activists teach media how to report on same-sex in nigeria

By Musa Ngubane (BTM Reporter)

February 21, 2007: Following abrupt public hearings on the controversial Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill last week, LGBT activists in Nigeria are conducting workshops to educate the media on how to fairly report on issues of sexual behavior.

Executive Director for the International Centre for Reproductive Health (INCRESE), Dorothy Aken’Ova, stated that activists undertook this initiative after observing that the Nigerian media failed to report fairly on sexual behaviour issues contrary to their international counterparts.

The activists on the other hand continue to advocate against the passing of that country’s anti gay bill. Aken’Ova revealed that they are holding ongoing meetings in Nigeria’s Capital, Abuja, with individuals of the Nigerian National Assembly with the hope to win their support.

Submissions made by the consortium warned that the bill, if passed, will undermine democratic rights in Nigeria.

It was also pointed out that the Bill could potentially affect a wide variety of civil society activists and organizations in that country. The submission indicates that the Bill might encourage gay bashing.

“This would be an inherent contradiction for a democratic system”, the submission stated.

LGBTI activists outside Nigeria also drafted a letter to the Nigerian parliamentary Committee opposing the Bill. They said that it would establish a new level of policing of private life and would be a devastating blow to Nigeria’s development.

The activists urged the committee to reject the politics of division but to endorse politics of respect.

In a recent report, “Voices from Nigeria”, by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Nigerian lesbian and gay community has spoken out against the proposed law. The report provides personal accounts of homophobic attacks, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and increased levels of homophobia that have begun as a result of the introduction of the legislation.
 
The bill, which could become law before Nigeria’s April 2007 elections, proposes a five-year sentence for anyone convicted of being openly gay or practicing same sex.