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Humanist Jeered for Supporting Gay Rights at Nigerian Public Hearing
 22
Feb 2007- A Nigerian Humanist was repeatedly jeered in Abuja last
week during his statement opposing the proposed new anti-gay legislation
in Nigeria, the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association revealed last
night.
Leo Igwe,
the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Humanist Movement, made his
statement at a public hearing to gather views from the public on the
proposed “Act to Make Provisions for the Prohibition of Relationship
Between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and
for Other Matters Connected Therewith” before a committee examines it
and sends a final version to Parliament for voting.
Igwe said that law
should not be made to oppress people. It should be made to serve the
interests of all the people, he said.
Reacting to the
outrageous statement made by an Islamic law professor who said that
sometimes the minority should be destroyed in order to protect the
majority, Igwe said that that was exactly what the bill was meant to
achieve and that it was unhealthy for the country and its democracy.
“One of the
hallmarks of a true democracy is not only upholding the will of the
majority but recognizing and respecting the rights of minorities,” he
pointed out.
In response to the
contention that same-sex marriage should be banned because it was alien
to Nigeria, Igwe replied by saying that Christianity and Islam, the
Bible and Koran, were all alien to Nigeria and if they wanted to ban
same-sex marriage they should also ban Christianity and Islam and their
holy books.
When the religious
groups also said that banning same sex marriage was to protect public
interest, good and morality, he said: “The term ‘public’ was all
inclusive and included gay and lesbian people and therefore their
interest and good should not be excluded or undermined.”
However, the vast
majority of those who spoke agreed with Jonathan Adamu of the
Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria who said: “Western society is
decaying. We cannot use Western society as a model for moral values. If
we let a man go with a man or a woman go with a woman, the next thing
will be a man with an animal.”
The secretary of
the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, George Broadhead, said
the “courageous intervention” of Igwe was welcome.
“It is hardly
surprising that he was shouted down. Nigeria is split about evenly
between Christians and Muslims and the one thing they can agree on is
that gay relationships are abhorrent and gay rights have no place in
human rights.
“This being the
case, it seems highly likely that this pernicious legislation will be
enacted and there can be no doubt that it has been driven and fortified
by religious hatred,” Broadhead said.
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