The Federal High Court of Nigeria has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013, contending that the plaintiff did not have legal standing because he is straight and not harmed by the law.
Human rights activists said that the ruling, while disappointing, actually opens the door for a new legal action against the anti-gay law. Nigeria, one of the world’s most populous nations, is also one of the worst places on Earth for LGBT rights.
Teriah Joseph Ebah, 42, a straight Nigerian who has lived in the UK for more than a decade and has a wife and children, sued the Nigerian government after the strict anti-gay law was signed into law. Ebah and his attorney argued that the law is discriminatory and criminalizes all things gay and punishes ordinary people who do not report the gays.
Oh well, they tried. Hopefully, there’ll come forward a plaintiff (you, him, her and me) who has the appropriate legal standing to challenge the law.