Petition Against Media Hounding of Gay Community In Nigeria

The Nigerian LGBTI People, Friends and Allies – Reclaiming Our Spaces.
21st September 2008

LGBTI, allies and friends of all LGBTI people in Nigeria and abroad wish to bring to your attention the recent hounding of members, leadership, families and friends of the House of Rainbow.

Recently, the Nation, the PM News, the Vanguard, The Sunday Sun, etc, have published articles on the House of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church with photographs, names, physical addresses of individuals, members and friends of the church and its leadership. They have set up Lesbian, Gay, Bi=sexual, Transgender/sexual and Intersex (LGBTI) persons, communities and human rights defenders as targets of violence.

We wish to observe that the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Ministry of Health and the NACA especially) have articulated policies that recognize the existence of Men who have Sex with Men (MSMs), and their health needs especially when it comes to programming for HIV/AIDS and other forms of sexually transmitted infections, and have commenced intervention programmes to respond to the needs of the community as identified in research initiatives that have taken place on sexual practices in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Government has demonstrated interest in the need to defend the human rights of Nigerians regardless of their sexual and gender orientation, identities and expressions. This is evidenced in the confidence reposed in the recent vote for the Nigerian High Commission in Geneva to preside over the Human Rights Council and its selection to host the upcoming African Human Rights Commission.

The 9th session of the Human Rights Council, The Nigerian President, in opening the first session over which he is presiding, made a point of stating that "No human rights issue should be off-limits" and that the role of the Council is to "promote and protect human rights for all people, and I underline all people."

The new High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanathem Pillay, presented her report, addressing a broad range of themes including the importance of non-discrimination, the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the importance of gender issues, freedom of expression, the work of human rights defenders, and more.

The recent Nigerian media reports on the House of Rainbow are in clear contradiction with the above claims made by and on behalf of the Nigerian Government.

The reports in question amount to libel, defamation of character, and constitute an infringement on the rights to personal dignity and integrity of these individuals.

The media in these reporting have failed grossly in performing their role as the forth estate of the nation, have not upheld their mandates of reporting facts, of being objective, of minimizing harm, and of upholding democratic values.