Courageous Nigerian activist protests for the repeal of the country’s anti-gay law

Edafe Okporo, a Nigerian human rights activist living in the U.S., has sent a strong message home to the Nigerian government, demanding the repeal of the country’s draconian anti-same-sex-marriage law, which violates the human rights of LGBT Nigerians.

Edafe Okporo at the Rise and Resist Rally

Okporo’s protest came during the Rise and Resist rally in front of the Nigerian Embassy in New York on the 10^th of September. He called on the Federal government of Nigeria to put an end to the persecution of LGBTIQ people by repealing the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act.

At the rally, Okporo made it clear that the law, signed in 2014 by then Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is a violation of human rights.

LGBT persons are peaceful and deserve the right to be happy, to be treated equally and to have their rights as human beings respected and not violated, he said.

“We demand that the United Nations during the General Assembly deliberate on these issues that persecute LGBTIQ folks all around the world. It is inhuman. It is our right. We deserve the right to live freely. We deserve the right to be happy. We deserve the right to be free.”

Watch the video showing Okporo at the rally below.

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