Reps Introduces 6-month Jail Term For Crossdressing

House of Representatives has introduced an amendment to the Same Sex Prohibition Act with a view to prohibiting crossdressing.

The amendment bill sponsored by the member representing Toro federal constituency of Bauchi State, Hon. Muda Umar, seeks to amend sections 4 and 5 of the principal Act.

The bill exempts the use of crossdressing for stage acts and other means of entertainment.

Clause two of the bill seeks to alter section 4 by inserting a new subsection 3.

The bill, if passed into law, could affect popular crossdressers like Okuneye Olanrewaju, who is popularly known as Bobrisky and James Brown.
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The bill was read for the first time on the floor of the House yesterday.

The 2013 Same-Sex Prohibition Bill was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan despite opposition from the international community, particularly the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Jonathan signed the bill into law on January 17, 2014.

The then US Secretary of State, John Kerry, had said the law “dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, associationand expression for all Nigerians.”

The existing Act prescribes 14 years in imprisonment for same-sex marriage and 10 years imprisonment for aiding and abetting the act.