Hostility to homosexuality and particularly to same-sex marriage, is strong across Africa, and in the Caribbean. In both regions however, there are signs of steady progress. In Bermuda, same-sex marriage is now part of the law, by a constitutional
Hostility to homosexuality and particularly to same-sex marriage, is strong across Africa, and in the Caribbean. In both regions however, there are signs of steady progress. In Bermuda, same-sex marriage is now part of the law, by a constitutional court decision. In Nigeria, the latest iteration of a regular, biennial opinion poll for the country’s Initiative for Equal Rights has found that while there remains overwhelming opposition to gay marriage, there are signs of some movement to greater social acceptance of homosexuality and rights to equal access to public services.
LAGOS – The biennial survey poll commissioned by The initiative for Equal Rights and conducted by NOI Polls, to map the perception and awareness of LGBT people amongst the general population in Nigeria indicates that there is increasing social acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual Nigerians, despite continued support for the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which bans marriage and criminalizes same sex associations, cohabiting amongst other discriminatory provisions.
Amongst the key findings of the poll are that a majority of Nigerians surveyed (53%) have some awareness and knowledge of homosexuals either through knowing a friend, family member or someone in their locality who is homosexual or through media, and (39%) of Nigerians accept that lesbian, gay and bisexual Nigerians should have equal access to public goods such as healthcare, housing and education, which represents a 9% increase from a previous poll conducted in 2015.
Source: Initiative for Equal Rights