<i>The Nigeria Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act</i>, 2013 and the concepts of justice, law and morality

Abstract

There is no ground for the arguments in support of legalization of same sex marriage other than that it gives weight to the recognition and protection of human rights. Legalization of same sex marriage no doubt depicts further protection of such rights as the Right to Freedom of Thought and Conscience. Even this seems a cogent reason for like the suffragettes of the early 20th Century England, same sex couples actually do have some sort of rights to claim. Yet there is something fundamental about the struggle for universal suffrage that is obviously lacking in the clamour for granting legal status to same sex marriage. The suffragettes envisioned a right that emphasized our common humanity as fellow sufferers who needed concern and respect. On the contrary, same sex couples only had an atomistic view of right, a view of right which sees the individual as a possessor of rights and who is entitled to claim such rights against all odds. This paper stated that the problem with the atomistic conception of right which same sex couples claim is that it overlooks certain yearnings of mankind that are universal. Thus, a right of that kind even contradicts the idea of ‘human right’ for which human rights are declared ‘universal’. The Nigeria same sex marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013 exemplifies an attempt to avoid a conception or right in line with atomistic view of human nature. Such an act is not unsusceptible to attack by individuals who support same sex marriage as well as to countries that have legalized that act. This paper by scrutinizing the Act in the light of the requirements of justice law and morality, absolves if of the criticisms that may come from the supporter of same sex marriage. According to this paper, the right  to same sex marriage when juxtaposed with the right to marriage between the opposite sexes is a wrong right. The right to marriage between people of the opposite sexes as recognized by the Nigeria Act emphasizes our common humanity as fellow beings with the instinct for not only self- preservation but also for the elongation of the human species.

Keywords: same sex marriage, justice, law and morality