Niger lawmakers want gay relationships criminalized

A motion to make same-sex partnerships illegal in Niger has the support of a number of parliamentarians.

Niger has a secular government with a Muslim majority, although there is no particular rule against same-sex unions at the moment.

Same-sex partnerships, according to the MPs, are in opposition to the populace's religious and cultural views.

Nana Djibou Harouna, a politician from the southern Maradi area, delivered the proposal to the Speaker of Parliament.

She said that the action was taken to safeguard the "rights and interest of the public" at a press conference on Thursday in the nation's capital, Niamey.

The homosexual lifestyle was cited by Mrs. Haruna as a "problem harming our society."

She claimed that after extensive deliberations, practically all MPs as well as Nigerien citizens had endorsed the proposal.

When the subject will be formally discussed in parliament is not yet known. What sort of sanctions they want to be included in the law is likewise unclear.

The action was taken just a few weeks after a court in Maradi exonerated two young women of lesbianism-related charges on the grounds that there was no specific law making same-sex relationships illegal.

After being found guilty of publishing their nude videos on social media in which they were purportedly seen in a lesbian act, they were instead sentenced to two years in prison.