The Senate was hailed when it enacted the law criminalising same sex marriage. The House of Representatives is in the process of passing the Bill. Precious Igbonwelundu examines the propriety of the law and queries its relevance.
Senate President David Mark’s comment that the upper chamber will not amend its position on the law against same sex marriage has continued to generate reactions.
The Bill against same sex marriage was sponsored by Senator Domingo Alaba Obende. A similar one, House Bill (HB) 150, in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Chukwudi Mayor Eze and 48 others, is yet to be passed.
The Bill enjoys the support of religious leaders and Nigerians who feel that same sex union will desecrate the values and cultures of the Africa. They have proposed capital punishment for anyone caught in such an affair.
They argue that if the legislature allows Western pressure to influence its decision, same sex marriage could erase whatever is left of the nation’s heritage and upset the sensibility of a greater number of people
Those in support of the Bill are also of the view that it will make homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals as well as transgenders come out of their shells to demand that their unions be solemnised or legitimised.
To them, the Senate and its President deserve kudos for standing their grounds in criminalising such unions, even as they urged the House of Representatives to follow suit in passing the Bill.
As laudable as their position may seem, others have raised constitutional issues, which they said must be addressed if the bill is to stand the test of time, otherwise, efforts put into its passage by both chambers of the National Assembly will amount to waste of time and resources.
Some of such issues are the provisions of sections 37 and 42 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to private and family life and individual’s right to freedom from discrimination. There is also the argument that as a signatory to the African Charter and International Human Rights, the nation invariably, assented to the sexual freedom of its citizens.
In effect, it is argued that the anti-gay marriage law, when viewed against the provision of Section 1(3) of the Constitution remains invalid
Also, human rights activists have argued that criminalising same sex union amounted to an infringement on the rights of the people in that minority group. They contended that law, as passed by the Senate, contradict constitutional provision which frowns against discrimination of any kind.
To them, people who practice same-sex already stigmatized by the society and may never want to be publicly linked with the lifestyle, hence, enacting a law that will make their lifestyles an offence amounts t to depriving them their sexual satisfaction.
In this group is a human rights activist, Leo Igwe, who at several fora, has kicked against the Senate’s position and described the comment by Senator Mark as anti human.
He said that bill legitimises hatred, discrimination and persecution of persons on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity, even as he likened the proposed law to a moral version of the Boko Haram agenda which is a product of fanatical minds.
Lawyers, who also spoke on the issue, said issue was not worth considering since the country was not under any threat from same sex marriage. They are argued that the National Assembly was wasting the country’s resources by devoting time to considering the Bill.
They maintained that there were more serious issues that will affect the socio-economic well being of the people begging for legislative attention but the legislature has closed its eyes to them and choose to concentrate on a “meaningless” bill.
To them, the National Assembly was just trying to gain cheap popularity from the populace who are more religious than Godly; else issues pertaining to the bill would not have come up.
The lawyers argued that the nation does not need any anti-gay bill since it is the choice of two consenting adults to indulge in the practice, which they say, have no effect on the society.
Those who spoke on the issue include Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC), Dr. Felix Morka, Constitutional Lawyer, Fred Agbaje, and Executive Director, Socio-Economic Right Action Project (SERAP), Adetokumbo Mumuni.
Morka said the idea of criminalising gay relationship was offensive to the fundamental principles of human rights especially because criminal processes and penalties are usually applied to conducts that cause harm to other individuals.
He said: ‘’I do not see how a private relationship among or between two consenting adults cause any harm to anybody else or the society in general.
‘’We cannot begin to elevate moral precepts or even cultural values to levels of criminality. Gay people are persons, citizens of this country and have equal right like the rest of us as enshrined in the constitution.
‘’Cultural or religious views must not be turned into rules of criminal law. We cannot penalise our people because of their sexual orientation.’’
Morka insisted that there were a lot of challenges begging for legislation which the National Assembly has not legislated upon.
He said: ‘’we have enormous challenges of massive poverty, relentless insecurity and complete failure of the government to provide socio-economic amenities such as electricity. In the face of all these, I do not see how the legislature should busy itself with the criminalisation of sexual orientation.
‘’They have failed in their responsibility and are just looking for cheap avenues to win religious leaders ahead of 2015 elections. What have gay people done against the society? There was a time in our culture when it was okay to kill twins but we have since outgrown that. Culture is an evolving thing, so, why should people be punished for holding unto their belief?
‘’How many laws have the National Assembly passed in order to enhance our educational sector? Instead of wasting resources to pass such a hostile bill, why did the legislature not make laws that will make the inclusion of moral lessons in our schools’ curriculum compulsory?’’
Agbaje said the Senate President and other law makers should avoid making statements or decisions that will pitch the nation against itself.
He said as long as the nation’s constitution has not been amended to exclude cases of same-sex unions from an individual’s right to private and family life as well as right to freedom from discrimination, passing an anti-gay bill was a contradiction.
‘’I cannot rule out the fact that gay or lesbian unions offend our cultural and religious values as Africans but that is not to say that these people should be punished for living their lives.
‘’It is their lives and their way of deriving sexual satisfaction so, our legislature should devoid itself from sentiments and concentrate effort on more serious issues affecting this country.
‘’The Nigeria society at the moment is scornful to same sex amorous, that alone is enough reason to make persons with these sexual orientation lock themselves up or hide it. What then is the essence of criminalising a ‘love’ relationship between adults?
‘’As a constitutional lawyer, I shall sue the nation if that law is enacted because gay people practice it in consonance with their thoughts, belief system and religion.’’
Mumuni argued that the Bill is unnecessary. He described as derogatory the comments ascribed to the Senate President, saying it was uncalled for.
He urged the legislature to enact laws that will enhance the lives of Nigerians and allow the gay people sought themselves out.
‘’They would not cease to amaze us. It is evil to attempt criminalising the sexual behaviour of a minority. The gay bill or law has no effect on the generality of the people. Their sexual habits which are done in private should not for any reason be criminalised.
‘’ The legislature should make laws that will reduce poverty, unemployment, insecurity and corruption in this country instead of wasting tax payer’s money on frivolities,’’ Mumuni said.
