The US Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield (pictured above) 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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