#istandwith9jaLGBT
#violenceisnotourculture
6th March 2014 – Ahead of the Global Day of Action against the Nigerian anti-gay laws taking place tomorrow, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and the Violence is Not our Culture (VNC) campaign express our solidarity with the LGBT[1] people of Nigeria in resisting these laws, which contradict human rights.[2]
As a network of Global South women’s rights activists and advocates, we have long seen the way that claims to cultural ‘authenticity’ and regressive interpretations of religion have been used to justify the violence that women suffer. The state-sanctioned persecution of LGBT people happening in Nigeria stems from the very same ideology, and uses the same ‘justifications’.