Last
week we published the first part of the media roundtable with the new US
Ambassador, Mr. James Entwistle, in this concluding exerpt, the envoy clarifies
his country’s position on Nigeria’s same sex Prohibition Act.
We have tremendous respect for the
sovereignty of other nations. Now, on the same-sex marriage bill, let me be
very clear: same-sex marriage is a controversial issue all over the
world, including in my country. I think it is now legal in 17 or 18
states; that means it is not legal in two-third of the country. May be someday
a federal court will make it the law of the land, but for now it is not. So, we
understand that same-sex marriage is a very controversial issue. Quite frankly,
the issue of what defines a marriage in Nigeria should be left to the
Nigerian people. I think even before this bill was passed the Marriage
Act specified that a marriage is between a man and a woman.
That is a Nigerian issue, but as a
friend of Nigeria, what worries us about this law is that, (I am not a lawyer)
but when I read this law it looks to me that it puts restriction on freedom of
assembly and the freedom of expression, which, I think, U.S. journalists will
be particularly concerned about. I understand the issue of homosexuality is a
hot topic here, but if you can no longer talk about it, if you can even meet to
talk about it, it means to me it is a slippery slope. What is the next topic
you will no longer be able to talk about or meet about?
I think in a hard-won democracy like
yours, when you start limiting the freedoms, it is a very worrisome thing. Take
the bill, take out the word gay, put in the word ‘journalist’, how do you feel
about that? The other point I will make, we are very concerned as a huge
HIV/AIDS partner. Since the inception of our PEPFAR programme, I think we have
spent about three and a half billion dollars in this country on the struggle
against HIV/AIDS.
We and many partners were concerned
that…it might affect people coming for HIV/AIDS treatment and that kind of
thing. I was very pleased the other day that NACA, I think the director came
out to clarify that nothing in this bill should be misconstrued to mean people
should not seek healthcare.
So, I was very glad to see that. I
was very concerned. Finally, the other thing that concerns me is that sadly
there have been incidences around this country where the bill has been used to
justify violence against gays, breaking into their homes, things like these and
I have to think that all well-meaning Nigerians, regardless of what you think
of homosexual conduct, you have to condemn this kind of thing, that kind
of violence against any Nigerian.
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