Gay people in nigeria
What’s the context?
The 2014 law has fuelled violence, extortion and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, a leading activist says
- 2014 law criminalised lgbtq+ relationships
- Law harms profession prospects for Gay Nigerians
- Attacks have increased since law passed
LAGOS - The impact of a decade-old law that criminalises same-sex relationships in Nigeria has reached far beyond what the legislation covers, effectively sanctioning exploitation against LGBTQ+ individuals and robbing them of their livelihoods, a leading rights defender said.
Nigeria passed the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) in 2014, prohibiting marriages and civil unions between members of the equal sex, an execute that is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
"Most importantly, it has presented LGBTQI persons as criminals," said Olumide Makanjuola, in Nigeria, director of programs at the Initiative Sankofa d'Afrique de l'Ouest, which aims to strengthen LGBTQ+ rights in West Africa.
"Once you are criminalised for who you are, you can't seek redress, you can't seek justice,” he told Context/Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Before 2014, same-sex relations between men were punishable with imprisonment u
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Last updated: 11 Rally 2025
Types of criminalisation
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
- Criminalises sexual activity between females
- Criminalises the gender expression of trans people
- Imposes the death penalty
Summary
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code Act and the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013 (SSMPA), which between them criminalise acts of ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’, ‘gross indecency’, same-sex unions, and LGBT representation. These provisions carry a maximum penalty of fourteen years’ imprisonment. Both men and women are criminalised under the law. Queer sexual activity is also criminalised at the state level through sharia law, under which the maximum sentence is death by stoning. In addition to potentially being captured by laws that criminalise same-sex activity, trans people may also face prosecution under state level sharia laws.
The laws criminalising ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ and ‘gross indecency’ were
Homosexuality: The countries where it is illegal to be gay
BBC News
US Vice-President Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three African countries - Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia - has drawn criticism over her support for LGBTQ rights.
In Ghana, in a speech calling for "all people be treated equally" she appeared to criticise a bill before the country's parliament which criminalises representation for gay rights and proposes jail terms for those that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
The country's Speaker Alban Bagbin later called her remarks "undemocratic" and urged lawmakers not to be "intimidated by any person".
In Tanzania, a former minister spoke against US encourage for LGBTQ rights ahead of the visit and in Zambia some rivalry politicians have threatened to hold protests.
Where is homosexuality still outlawed?
There are 64 countries that have laws that criminalise homosexuality, and nearly half of these are in Africa.
Some countries, including several in Africa, have recently moved to decriminalise same-sex unions and improve rights for LGBTQ people.
In Decemb
Nigeria
Over the last decade, the state of LGBTIQ human rights in Nigeria has deteriorated. Same-sex intimacy is illegal throughout the country under the Federal Criminal Code Act (2004) and the Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act (1959). Furthermore, twelve northern states in the country have adopted Shariah, punishing gay relations with death and criminalizing gender expressions that perform not correspond with gender norms linked with the sex assigned at birth. In 2014, the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act (SSMPA) was signed into statute. The Act criminalizes same-sex marriage and displays of love between people of the same gender and imposes a 10-year prison sentence on anyone who “registers, operates, or participates in male lover clubs, societies, and organizations.” Nigerian LGBTIQ organizations, led by The Initiative for Equal Rights, possess successfully contested this provision in the High Court, but it remains to be seen if the Corporate Affairs Commission will register an openly LGBTIQ organization. The SSMPA also prescribes a penalty for people who know about or “abet” lgbtq+ relationships, thus criminalizing the friends and families of LGBTIQ peo