The altercation between the Federal Government and Daily Trust Newspapers over a report that the Samoa Island Agreement signed by Tinubu contains pro-LGBT clauses, has sparked renewed debate, including this one on the legalization of homosexuality, lesbianism and same sex marriage in Nigeria.
According to the report, the agreement contains some clauses that compel under-developed and developing countries to support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) practices as a condition for eligibility for $150 billion funding by the Western powers. I know that the Federal Government has since refuted that report, stating that there was no such thing in the agreement. It has not ended there.
To put the subject in perspective and for the purpose of clarity, it is important to define ‘same sex marriage’ and re-examine what the Nigerian Constitution has to say about it. Same sex marriage is one between individuals of the same sex. This is either between two males or two females. The law in Nigeria makes this kind of marriage illegal and a punishable offence. Section 214 of the criminal code provided that “any person who has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature (or carnal knowledge of an animal), or permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature is guilty of felony and is liable to imprisonment for 14 years. The law further provides that anyone who administers, witnesses or assists the solemnization of a same sex marriage or civil union, or supports the registration and operation of a gay club or organization is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for 10 years upon conviction. The Same Sex Prohibition Act of 2013 explicitly provided that a marriage certificate cannot be issued to individuals of the same sex.
But while the Samoa incident has been denied by Tinubu, the Holy See had no apologies for approving blessings for same sex couples. In response, the Christian community in Nigeria unequivocally condemned same sex marriage and reverend fathers have since insisted they would not bless same sex couples.
The Catholic church in the country said there is no possibility of blessing same sex couples, as would be going against God’s commandments, His teachings and laws of our nation and the cultural sensibilities of our people. The argument here is that marriage is divinely ordained as an institution reserved for one man and one woman only and as such it is unjust for a man to marry another of a woman to marry her own gender.
In recorded history, same sex unions have existed even as far back as medieval times. In the year 390, the Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodoisus and Arcadius declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be burned alive in public glare. It was recorded that a certain Anne Lister, often referred to as the first modern lesbian married one Ann Walker at Holy Trinity church, Goodramgate, York in 1834. It was also recorded that Emperor Nero of old Roman Empire married at least two males on different occasions with himself being the bride in one of the unions. Even at that time, the term used to describe such unions were corrupt in connotation, such as ‘cubit infamen’, that is to go to bed with a man, a tacit disapproval of homosexual behaviour. This supports the ancient Roman idea that conubium could only exist between a civis Romanus and a civis Romana, that is between a male Roman citizen and a female Roman citizen. In modern times, a remarkable achievement in LGBT history occurred when Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands signed a law making the country the first to legalize same sex marriage.
Those opposed to same sex marriage argue that the practice is alien to African culture and should therefore be regarded as a taboo and be banned. This may not be entirely true. Coming back home, there exists in some traditional Igbo societies something in the semblance of same sex marriage referred to as ‘woman husband’ or ‘woman wife’. Leo Igwe, a columnist wrote in a situation where a woman has no son or no child at all, if the husband dies, it is culturally allowed for her to marry a ‘wife’. And in this case, she becomes the husband after paying the required dowry and fulfilling other traditional marriage rites. What this means is that the man who impregnates the woman is immaterial; his duty is simply to ‘supply the sperm’ as would have no claim to the child in the future. The children born by that ‘wife’ of hers bear the family name of her late husband. But one caveat is that those offsprings could suffer stigmatization.
Hence, the argument by same sex agitators is that it not new and denying them the right to marriage amounts to injustice and infringement on their fundamental human rights. That is as far as they can go. The fact remains that no matter how free you claim to be, you cannot use your freedom to act as you like.
Homosexuals do not have the freedom to marry but it does negate their sexual desires. Yet, they are not the only ones restricted from civil privileges. For instance, visually impaired persons may not be able to procure a driver’s license. So, lamentations of injustice on that account carries a question mark.
There is also a deeper spiritual angle to the matter. If God says He is averse to certain aspects of human behaviour and that men should not sleep with men, was He joking? Of course not. It is true that God is slow to anger, but God’s patience should not be taken for granted.
Back then on campus, I recall an argument with my roommate. He had put it to me that I would go to hell if I did not repent of my sins.
Out of sheer bravado, I told him that both of us were already in hell and that in fact hell does not exist. He looked at me pitifully and told me that whether I believe in hell or not, when I eventually get there, I will see the consequences. In other words, if a couple in a same sex relationship drop dead and find themselves directly before their creator, what explanation would they put forward?
Would they tell the creator that He infringed upon their fundamental human rights? From all indications, it is clear that it would take quite some time for traditional African societies to come to terms with the idea of LGBT rights and same sex marriage even if it is decriminalized by government.
