Laws banning homosexuality in
the Gambia should be overturned
Dear editor,
I read with great interest your story on a call made by the British Prime Minister May for the abolition of the laws banning same-sex marriage in The Gambia and the Commonwealth in general. I think she is right and I fully support that idea. The laws are discriminating against people who chose to live the way they want. Why should people face violence and imprisonment just because they are gay? Yes we may claim that gay marriages were never part of our culture but the laws banning homosexual relationship and gay sex can be considered unconstitutional. It is wrong to either alienate or actively seek to prosecute LGBT persons.
Commonwealth nations have some great features and common heritage that brings them together such as similar legal frameworks and a shared language. So The Gambia should follow similar steps taken by other Commonwealth nations to strike down laws that criminalise same-sex acts. The Gambia is a secular state and we are always advocating for religious tolerance. It is time we open up and allow others to enjoy their natural rights. I know a number of gay who are living in fear and are being discriminated by the society.
I also have family members and are working with me who are gay and are feeling deprived of their rights in their own country. This is new Gambia, so all forms of discrimination should be a thing of the past by now. I am calling on the religious leaders and groups to be more tolerant and accommodative to the values of others. The government of The Gambia must not only allow other Human Rights groups to operate freely, but also, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Intersex Associations must work freely.
The New Gambia for all, in peace and harmony.
Ousainou Jeng
Jeng’s Rubbish Collection
Same sex marriage
Dear editor,
It is not my wish to talk about this topic. But with the recent definition of the European civilisation and a high way robbery of our sanity-THE BLACK MAN’S CIVILISATION; I am left with no option but to attack the unruly worm that is about to eat into our African world, same sex marriage. I am not anti white or racist.
I am not left in the wake of growth of humanity. I am not clueless about the history of the black to being himself and the justification of the supremacy of the white in language n culture-their way of life. However, in extension I know that colonisation has not seized to exist in the mind of the white; “decolonisation of the mind” as expressed by WA THIONGO, one of Africa’s great writers. The white wouldn’t rest on their laurels until they feel satisfied that their “gift” Africa, is still taught civilisation. Although, colonialisation through torture is done and gone, the white man introduces a new colonialism of modernity or civility.
With this western ideas like homosexuality can only be achieved through a body that can be used as a platform UN (United Nations) in with their poor teachers unmistakably are our African leaders. Thus, when such ideas like SAME SEX MARRIAGE are introduced, the teachers will then either agree or disagree. Agreeing means that their strategy has given away and disagreeing would mean “having a stubborn teacher.
There and then, the admins (UN) now bypasses the teachers i.e our African leaders to another platform called TV. Many a times, this is where we disagree with our leaders even if they are right for us. This is the white man’s intended plan. Until we become stronger as leaders and not a leader, the white man’s intended spread of her supremacy (to control the world) in language, culture and way of life will be a thing unchanged. Should we colonize their modernity and how? The million dollar question!
Abdou Aziz Fatty
Brikama
