Recent poll shows Nigerians have become more tolerant towards gay and lesbian people over the past five years.
According to that poll, in general only one in six people knows someone who is homosexual, but among youth in their teens and twenties every third person knows someone who is openly gay.
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One third of respondents told gay, lesbian and bisexual people should have equal access to education, healthcare and other public services. Results of the poll were assessed in detail in an interview with Nigerian gay rights advocate Bisi Alimi.
The newest opinion poll among Nigerians shows that only 87% of people in the country support the legal ban on homosexual relationships, while five years ago the same law was supported by 96% of Nigerians. So the present number is 9% lower than it was five years ago.
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In an effort to gain popular support ahead of presidential elections Goodluck Jonathan tightened anti-gay laws last year, banning same-sex marriages as well as activities of gay rights activist groups and manifestation of same-sex affection in public.
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Nigerian anti-gay laws are among toughest in the world, prosecuting homosexuals with terms of up to 14 years in prison. Twelve northern states in Nigeria punish homosexuals with death.
Yesterday Mozambique joined the family of gay-friendly African nations, now consisting of Burkina-Faso, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and The Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Madagaskar, Mali, Niger and Rwanda where homosexual contacts have never been criminalised. Nevertheless, the only country in Africa where same-sex marriages are legal is South Africa.
Much praised US Supreme Court decision to make gay marrriage legal in the United States of America has triggered wild jubilation and tears of joy across the country.
In the wake of the legalized gay marriage in the USA, Zimbabwe’s 90-year-old president, Robert Mugabe, has publicly proposed marriage to President Barrack Obama.