Liberia's President Vows Not To Decriminalize Homosexuality
We were previously encouraged by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's words against a proposed bill dramatically increasing the penalties for homosexuality. But that's as far as she goes. The Guardian reports:
The Nobel peace prize winner and president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has defended a law that criminalises homosexual acts, saying: "We like ourselves just the way we are." In a joint interview with Tony Blair, who was left looking visibly uncomfortable by her remarks, Sirleaf told the Guardian: "We've got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve." Liberian legislation classes "voluntary sodomy" as a misdemeanour punishable by up to one year in prison, but two new bills have been proposed that would target homosexuality with much tougher sentences.Think Progress has the clip.
RELATED: Blair may have "looked uncomfortable" because just last week he came out in support for marriage equality.
Labels: Africa, LGBT rights, Liberia, Tony Blair