House to review anti-homosexuality law.

The House of Representatives begins the process of reviewing the request to amend Liberia’s anti-homosexuality law.

By Bridgett Milton

Capitol Hill, Liberia, July 19, 2024 – Liberia’s House of Representatives has instructed its committees on Gender, Health, and Judiciary to review the request for the amendment of the country’s anti-homosexuality law.

The proposal seeking an amendment to Chapter 14, Subchapter D of a bill titled “Anti-Homosexuality Law of Liberia 2024 was sent to the House of Representatives by Johnson S. N. Williams of River Gee County District#3.

According to Representative Johnson, the Draft Bill, when passed into law, will fulfill Article 5(b) of the 1986 Liberian Constitution, which states that “the Republic shall preserve, protect and promote positive Liberian culture, ensuring that traditional values which are compatible with public and national progress are adopted and developed as an integral part of the growing needs of the Liberian society.’’

He says if Chapter 14, Sub-chapter (D) of the New Penal Code is amended to create a New Section 14.8, it will make homosexuality a criminal offense.

The River Gee lawmaker argues that his bill seeks to put Liberia in a clear position on gay issues rather than remain silent on the most talked about homosexual behavior around the world.

“This bill seeks to lay to rest and to recuse this country the same way we wage war on drugs. It’s the same way we need to do for homosexuality in our country. As we speak, young people are contaminated by this act, and it’s about time for it to come to an end.”

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Liberia face discrimination, as the country’s law remained silent, with many citing traditional values.

LGBT people in Liberia encounter widespread discrimination, including harassment, death threats, and at times physical attacks.

The practice has been frowned upon in all sectors of the country. Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized regardless of the gender of those involved, with a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and same-sex marriage is illegal.

In 2012, two anti-LGBT bills were introduced in the Legislature. A bill introduced by Representative Clarence Massaquoi proposed increasing the penalty for same-sex sexual activity from a first-degree misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of one year in prison to a second-degree felony with a maximum prison sentence of five years.

A separate bill introduced by then-Senator Jewel Howard Taylor would have categorized same-sex marriage as a first-degree felony, with a maximum ten-year prison sentence.

Former President Ellen Johns-Sirleaf at the time threatened to veto either bill while also defending the existing laws criminalizing same-sex sexual activity as a misdemeanor, ascribing existing laws to “traditional values in our society that we’d like to preserve.”

Massaquoi’s bill to increase the penalties for same-sex sexual activity failed to pass either the House or Senate, while Taylor’s bill to criminalize same-sex marriage was passed by the Senate but not the House.  As a result, neither bill was enacted into law.

Representative Johnson’s bill, which seeks an amendment, was read on the floor of the House in open plenary on Thursday, July 18, and later forwarded to a joint committee to report within two weeks after the House returns from its second quarter break. Editing by Jonathan Browne