Nigerian law moves toward passage

Matt Thompson at Political Spaghetti has an illuminating, but depressing series of posts on the Nigerian legislation that Bishop John Bryson Chane began speaking out against more than a year ago. Matt has pretty much demolished all of the rationalizations that conservative Anglicans such as Bishop Martyn Minns have used to explain away Archbishop Peter J. Akinola’s support for the legislation.

U. N. Human Rights experts have spoken out against this bill, noting that it violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and have urged the Nigerian government to withdraw it.

Here is some of what they said:

” We are apprehensive that, if adopted, the proposed law will make persons engaging in, or perceived to be engaging in, same sex relationships in Nigeria more susceptible to arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and ill-treatment and expose them even more to violence and attacks on their dignity. The proposed law may lead to the denial of opportunities and conditions necessary for the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. In particular, the Bill is likely to undermine HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts by driving stigmatized communities underground, posing a threat to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”

Here is what Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has had to say: Nuthin’.

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