Nobel peace prize winner defends law criminalising homosexuality in Liberia

[Gay Means Child Molester]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/19/nobel-peace-prize-
law-homosexuality

The Nobel peace prize winner and president of Liberia, Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, has defended a law that criminalises homosexual
acts, saying: "We like ourselves just the way we are."

In a joint interview with Tony Blair, who was left looking
visibly uncomfortable by her remarks, Sirleaf told the Guardian:
"We've got certain traditional values in our society that we
would like to preserve."

Liberian legislation classes "voluntary sodomy" as a
misdemeanour punishable by up to one year in prison, but two new
bills have been proposed that would target homosexuality with
much tougher sentences.

Blair, on a visit to Liberia in his capacity as the founder of
the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), a charity that aims to
strengthen African governments, refused to comment on Sirleaf's
remarks.

When asked whether good governance and human rights went hand in
hand, the British former prime minister said: "I'm not giving
you an answer on it."

"One of the advantages of doing what I do now is I can choose
the issues I get into and the issues I don't. For us, the
priorities are around power, roads, jobs delivery," he said.

Over his 10 years as prime minister, Blair became a champion for
the legal equality of gay people, pushing through laws on civil
partnerships, lifting a ban on gay people in the armed forces
and lowering the age of consent for gay people to 16.

A Catholic convert, he called on the pope to rethink his
"entrenched" views and offer equal rights to gay people. But gay
rights, he said, were not something he was prepared to get
involved in as an adviser to African leaders.

With Sirleaf sitting to his left, Blair refused to give any
advice on gay rights reforms. He let out a stifled chuckle after
Sirleaf interrupted him to make it clear that Blair and his
staff were only allowed to do what she said they could. "AGI
Liberia has specific terms of reference … that's all we require
of them," she said, crossing her arms and leaning back.

There have been no recent convictions under the sodomy law,
according to the latest US state department human rights report.
However, anti-gay activists have promoted two new bills which
would take the legislation much further. One would amend the
penal code to make a person guilty of a second-degree felony if
he or she "seduces, encourages or promotes another person of the
same gender to engage in sexual activities" or "purposefully
engages in acts that arouse or tend to arouse another person of
the same gender to have sexual intercourse", carrying a prison
sentence of up to five years.

The second bill – drafted by the ex-wife of the former president
Charles Taylor – would make gay marriage a crime punishable by
up to 10 years in jail. Jewel Howard Taylor told the Guardian:
"[Homosexuality] is a criminal offence. It is un-African." She
went on to say: "It is a problem in our society. We consider
deviant sexual behaviour criminal behaviour.

"We are just trying to strengthen our local laws. This is not an
attempt to bash homosexuals."

The gay rights debate erupted in Liberia after the US secretary
of state, Hillary Clinton, announced in December that America's
foreign aid budget would promote the protection of gay rights,
prompting speculation that funds would be tied to rights records.

The announcement brought unprecedented attention to
homosexuality in a country where until recently gay people and
lesbians lived in secret, but generally not in fear for their
lives. Since Clinton's remarks, Liberian newspapers have
published numerous articles and editorials describing
homosexuality as "desecrating", "abusive" and an "abomination".

"Over the last six months, we've seen a worrying increase in
anti-gay rhetoric, intolerance and indeed attacks on individuals
fighting for the rights of Liberians in same-sex relationships,"
said Corinne Dufka, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch
in west Africa.

In the past month alone there have been at least six homophobic
attacks in the capital, Monrovia.

One 21-year-old gay man, who recently left Monrovia to move to
the countryside after some of his friends were threatened, said
he now lived in fear of mob violence, a common occurrence on the
streets of Monrovia. "You and your brother walking down the
street, they may actually jump on you and beat you, kill you,
and when they say: 'Oh they are gay, that's the reason we killed
them,' nothing will come of it," he said.

Homosexuality is already illegal in 37 African countries. In
Uganda, a bill proposing custodial sentences for homosexuality
is still being considered, although it no longer contains the
provision for the death penalty. Ten women were recently
arrested in Cameroon accused of being lesbians, while in
Nigeria, homosexual activities are punishable by up to 14 years
in prison.

Sirleaf was awarded the Nobel peace prize last year for her work
in campaigning for women's rights. The 73-year-old became
Africa's first female president in 2006 and was elected for a
second term last year. "If she tried to decriminalise the
[current anti-gay] law it would be political suicide," said
Tiawan S Gongloe, the country's former solicitor general.
Without a majority government, Sirleaf desperately needs the
support of other MPs to tackle other issues such as corruption,
exploitation of the country's natural resources and mass youth
unemployment, he said.

After 14 years of civil war that ended in 2003, Liberia is still
one of the poorest countries in the world.

Gongloe also said the country was still not ready for a debate
on gay rights. "Liberians need public education on the issue.
Our society is not at that point yet to have a civil
conversation on the issue," he said.

At an African Union summit earlier this year Ban Ki-moon urged
African leaders to respect gay rights and to stop treating gay
people as second-class citizens and criminals.

When pushed on the UN secretary general's comments, with Sirleaf
at his side, Blair responded: "I'm not saying these issues
aren't important, but the president has given her position and
this is not one for me."