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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