The Situation in Nigeria & Western Reactions
Ever since at least the 1998 Lambeth Conference, Western Anglicans have been aware that their African counterparts express a far more strongly negative view of homosexuality than they do. At that time, for instance, we witnessed the Nigerian Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma’s public attempt at “exorcising” Richard Kirker, leader of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) in the UK. Subsequent interviews documented at length Bishop Chukwuma’s assertions that homosexuals were “going to hell” and his comparison of present-day gay activists in the church with the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah, among other similes.[1] Some of these reports were flagrant attempts at creating controversy and embarrassing different members of the debate itself. But contrasts involved in the debate, beyond the sensationalist elements, were nonetheless striking on several levels.
For some time, homosexual activity in Nigeria has been legally prohibited, with sanctions of up to 14 years imprisonment…
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