Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's office announced this week that he has signed the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) bill into law.
The news was met with outrage by government leaders from the U.S., United Kingdom, and Canada, along with LGBT, human rights, and HIV/AIDS activists who claimed it went against international human rights law that Nigeria agreed to uphold.
"People everywhere deserve to live in freedom and equality. No one should face violence or discrimination for who they are or who they love," said Secretary of State John Kerry, who expressed deep concern in a January 13 news release.
World leaders urged Nigerian legislators to repeal the law.
"We call on Nigeria to repeal this law and to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Nigerians regardless of their sexual orientation," said Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
Reports of LGBTs in northern Nigeria being arrested in the weeks leading up to the signing of the bill surfaced immediately after the news broke.
The law, also known as the "Jail the Gays" bill was quietly signed by Jonathan January 7, but it wasn't made public until Monday, confirmed the Associated Press.
The president's spokesman, Reuben Abati, confirmed the signing of the bill.
The eight-page law bans marriages and civil unions, including recognition of foreign same-sex unions, along with prohibiting gatherings and displays of same-sex affection �" even a look. Couples performing a same-sex wedding can be thrown into prison up to 14 years. Witnesses to such unions face 10 years imprisonment, and anyone providing services to someone who is gay faces up to five years in prison.
Both Nigeria's upper and lower houses of Parliament passed the bill last May, yet elements of the legislation were still under debate as recently as last month. The Nigerian Senate passed the bill �" originally proposed by Ojo Madukwe in 2006 �" in 2011.
"This is a law that is in line with the people's cultural and religious inclination," Abati told the AP. "It is a law that is a reflection of the beliefs and orientation of Nigerian people ... Nigerians are pleased with it."
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country with 174,507,539 people representing 250 ethnic groups. Half the country is Muslim, while 40 percent are Christian and 10 percent are of indigenous faiths, according to the CIA World Factbook.
In 2013, the Pew Research Center found that Nigerians are the most intolerant of LGBTs, with 98 percent of the respondents stating that homosexuality should not be accepted by society. The survey examined 39 countries. Respondents in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Palestinian territories, Senegal and Tunisia expressed anti-gay attitudes by more than 90 percent, reported the organization in "The Global Divide on Homosexuality."
American conservative and religious leaders exploited the country's heavy religious communities, stating the anti-gay laws would "protect marriage," reported the Wire.
Navi Pillay, human rights chief of the United Nations, called the law "draconian."
"Rarely have I seen a piece of legislation that in so few paragraphs directly violates so many basic, universal human rights," she said.
Leading up to Jonathan signing the legislation into law, police in the Bauchi state arrested upward of nearly 40 gay men and purportedly tortured them to gain a list of 168 suspected gay men, Dorothy Aken'Ova, executive director of Nigeria's International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights, told the AP January 14.
The chairman of Bauchi state Shariah Commission, Mustapha Baba Ilela, confirmed that 11 men were arrested for membership to a gay organization during the past two weeks, but torture wasn't used, he said. All of the men signed confessions that they belonged to a gay organization, but some retracted the statements when a judge charged them, reported the AP.
Human rights experts anticipate an influx of asylum cases from Nigeria as LGBTs attempt to escape the country.
"The situation for LGBT people in Nigeria will be completely untenable, setting a precedent that would threaten all Nigerians' rights to privacy, equality, free expression, and free association," said George Broadhead, secretary of the Pink Triangle Trust. "It could also encourage other African states, in which homophobia is rife, to introduce similar legislation."
To take action, contact President Goodluck Jonathan at Radio House, Herbert Macaulay Way (South), Area 10, P.M.B. 247, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria or email [email protected].
Next up, Uganda
Meanwhile, another harsh anti-LGBT bill awaits the president's signature in Uganda.
President Yoweri Museveni is considering enacting the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, in spite of questions about the legality of the vote that brought the bill to his desk.
The bill severely limits LGBT Ugandans' freedom to socialize and gather, much less talk about same-sex love. Individuals could spend life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality," which is defined as sex with a minor, ongoing sexual relationships with the same sex, and more.
The death penalty clause was changed to life in prison.
Ugandan legislators passed the bill December 20 and forwarded it to Museveni's desk for his signature or veto. Parliament needs two-thirds votes in order to override the president's decision, if it doesn't go in their favor.
Ugandan Speaker Rebecca Kadaga warned Western nations not to "bully" Uganda about homosexuality.
To urge Museveni not to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, visit http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=6645049&aid=520488&msource=W1401EAWMN1.
Gay Cameroonian jailed for text message is dead
Roger Jean-Claude Mbede, a 34-year-old gay man who was arrested for texting a love message to another man, died January 10.
Mbede�s family removed him from the hospital where he was seeking treatment for a hernia, which he developed in prison, said his attorney Alice Nkom.
"His family said he was a curse for them and that we should let him die," Nkom told Gay Star News.
Mbede was arrested in March 2011 for texting "I'm very much in love with you," to another man. A month later he was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail.
Homosexuality is a criminal act under Cameroon's penal code, which criminalizes same-sex sexual acts and has been enforced since 1972. Convicted individuals can face up to five years in prison and a fine of $400.
Mbede was released on medical grounds, but on provision, in July 2012. He then disappeared, but an appeals court upheld his conviction in December that year, reported GSN.
Mbede's family removed him from the hospital where he was being treated. He was out of the hospital for only about a month and didn�t receive medical care during that period before he died, according to multiple media reports.
Nkom holds Cameroon's government to blame for Mbede's early death.
"I accuse the state. If there had not been criminalization of homosexuality, he would not have gone to prison and his life would not be over," said Nkom. "His life was finished as soon as he went to prison."
Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBT rights researcher for Human Rights Watch, has called for a police investigation into Mbede's death. Reports have surfaced that he may have been denied medical treatment.
Israel honors LGBT Holocaust victims
A new memorial honoring LGBT victims of the Holocaust was unveiled in a Tel Aviv park January 10.
The memorial is a first in Israel recognizing non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust by honoring gays and lesbians persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.
The new landmark, a concrete triangle-shaped plaque, tells the story of LGBT people's plight under Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. LGBTs were forced to wear pink or black triangles by the Nazis in the concentration camps.
The memorial joins similar landmarks in Amsterdam, Berlin, San Francisco, and Sydney dedicated to gay victims of the Holocaust.
"I think in Israel today it is very important to show that a human being is a human being is a human being," said Mayor Ron Huldai at the dedication ceremony. "It shows that we are not only caring for ourselves but for everybody who suffered. These are our values �" to see everyone as a human being."
Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at 00+1-415-221-3541, Skype: heather.cassell, or [email protected].