Biden pushes for legalisation of homosexual rights in Nigeria, others
Buhari and Biden
United States President Joe Biden has directed American Embassy in Nigeria and
other countries to push for the legalisation of homosexuality in their
respective countries of residence. Biden gave the directive in a White House
statement on Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons Around the World. The United States
president said the memorandum reaffirms and supplements the principles
established in the Presidential Memorandum of December 6, 2011 (International
Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Persons). x “It shall be the policy of the United States to pursue
an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender
identity or expression, or sex characteristics, and to lead by the power of our
example in the cause of advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the
world,” Biden said in the memorandum. “Through this memorandum, I am directing
all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy and foreign
assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons” Biden said
the memorandum calls for “Swift and Meaningful United States Responses to Human
Rights Abuses of LGBTQI+ Persons Abroad. “The Department of State shall lead a
standing group, with appropriate interagency representation, to help ensure the
Federal Government’s swift and meaningful response to serious incidents that
threaten the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons abroad.” Biden noted that “When
foreign governments move to restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ persons or fail to
enforce legal protections in place, thereby contributing to a climate of
intolerance, agencies engaged abroad shall consider appropriate responses,
including using the full range of diplomatic and assistance tools and, as
appropriate, financial sanctions, visa restrictions, and other actions.” One of
the countries with a restriction against the legalisation Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons globally is Nigeria – with a
law prohibiting their acts. The Same Marriage Prohibition actions, signed into
law in 2014 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, was enacted on the premise
that the Nigerian culture is antithetical to homosexuality. With the population
of the country largely divided between Christians and Muslims, there was also a
religious urgency to the prohibition. Persons of the LGBTQ+ community risk up to
20 years jail term in Nigeria. However, Amnesty International said the
prohibition by the government exposes persons of the LGBTQ+ in the country to
harm and called for a reversal of the law. US President Biden shared the same
sentiment in the memorandum. “All human beings should be treated with respect
and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or
whom they love,” Biden said. He said the United States belongs at the forefront
of this struggle — speaking out and standing strong for members of the LGBTQ+
and holds the values of treating people with dignity regardless of race, colour
or sexuality.
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