The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda
Thomas-Greenfield (pictured beside) has stated that they would continue to
pressurize Nigeria until it
legalizes same sex marriage. She made this known on Monday July 13 during a
live-web chat with journalists in Washington.
"As a government, it is one of the highest
priorities and strongest values that discrimination against anyone based on
their sexual orientation and gender identity is wrong. We believe human rights
should be available to everybody.
As a policy, we will continue to press the government of Nigeria, as well as
other governments which have provided legislation that discriminate against the
LGBT community. This is very much a work in progress, but I think you will
agree with me that the law in Nigeria really went far in discriminating against
this community but also people who associate with them.
So, we will continue to press the government, to press the
legislature to change these laws and provide human rights for all Nigerian
people regardless of their sexual orientation. With what is happening in the
US, you can determine how far we are willing to go. We strongly believe human
rights for all people and we are particularly opposed to legislation that
actually targets the gay community for discrimination. So we are prepared to
push this as a policy, not just in Africa but across the world.”
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