The Massachusetts anti-gay rights group
MassResistance has praised passage of a Nigerian bill which
criminalizes homosexuality and gay rights advocacy.
The bill has cleared the legislature
and awaits Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's signature to become
law.
If the measure is approved, anyone
found guilty of engaging in a same-sex relationship would face up to
14 years in prison. In addition, anyone who “supports” LGBT
groups, “processions or meetings” could be jailed for up to 10
years.
MassResistance called the bill “a
bold step.”
“In many ways, the Africans are
feeling the brunt of the world-wide homosexual activist movement even
more than the United States,” the
group wrote in a blog post. “They are dealing with the huge
spread of AIDS. But also, the breakdown in society caused by the
homosexual movement seems to bring more general social destruction in
African cultures than in the West. And nation after nation has had
enough.”
A recent survey found Nigeria to be the
world's most homophobic nation, with 98 percent of adults saying that
homosexuality should be discouraged. Only 1 percent disagreed.
(Related: Spain
leads in acceptance of gays; Less tolerance in more religious
countries.)