James Brown, Bobrisky, Jay Boogie and other Nigerian cross dressers have entered into jubilation mood as bill to ban cross-dressing suffers setback.
According to reports making the rounds online, a bill that attempts to outlaw cross-dressing in Nigeria has temporarily suffered a setback.
The Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, demanded that the bill’s sponsor, Muda Lawal, withdraw the measure because his justification was insufficient.
Remember that the measure was submitted in April 2022 and aims to add cross-dressing as an offense to the 2013 same-sex marriage (prohibition) statute.
Crossdressers run the risk of receiving a five hundred thousand naira fine or six months in jail under a proposed law.
It is important to note that this is not a rejection of the bill; if the sponsor makes a strong case, it may still be discussed again.
Same Sex marriage law in Nigeria
Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan signed the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill (SSMPA) into law on January 7, 2014. The SSMPA’s stated goal is to forbid marriages between people who share the same sex. Its reach is actually considerably wider. The law bars any same-sex sexual partners from living together and forbids the “public display of same sex romantic relationship.”
Anyone who “registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, groups and organizations” or “supports” the operations of such organizations faces a 10-year prison sentence under the SSMPA. Penalties are harsh and can include 10 to 14 years in prison. While the criminal and penal codes from the colonial era forbade homosexual acts between people of the same sex, the SSMPA effectively criminalizes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Such provisions build on existing law in Nigeria but go much further.
