NOM BLOG

Nigeria Reacts to Threats to Withdraw Aid: "To Hell With the Superpowers if They are For Gay Marriages"

 

This story is about the reaction in Nigeria to President Obama's new policy, announced by Secretary Clinton, to take into account the treatment of gay rights in the dispersal of U.S. foreign aid. To be fair, the policy did not explicitly state that laws regarding gay marriage would be incorporated in the directive.

From the perspective of Nigeria it appears gay rights and gay marriage are now synonyms. (It often seems that way from our side of the pond.)

We're posting this as an example of the globalization of the culture wars, not because we support Nigeria's laws:

It took barely twenty-four hours for Nigeria’s House of Representatives to register its answer to the Obama Administration’s pledge to become more vigorous in protecting the human rights of LGBT people abroad. The Associated Press reports that the bill which imposes prison terms for gay unions of all stripes which passed the Nigerian Senate last week has was introduced into the nation’s lower house today.

...President Barack Obama’s actions and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech seems to have touched off a particular anger, with one lawmaker vowing to up the ante:

Mohammed vowed lawmakers would proscribe even tougher penalties than those proposed so far. He said “to hell with the super powers if they are for gay marriages.” -- Box Turtle Bulletin

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