Bobrisky, James Brown, other Crossdressers risk six months in jail as Reps move to amend same-sex law

The House of Representatives has introduced a bill to prohibit cross-dressing with an amendment to the Same-Sex (Prohibition) Act.

The bill to prohibit cross-dressing in Nigeria was introduced by Umar Muda, a member of the House of Representatives, and it was read on the floor of the House on Tuesday.

If passed into law, cross-dressing will become an offence in the country with the exemption of those using it for entertainment.

Offenders will be liable to be jailed for six months.

“A person engaging in cross-dressing is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment of 6 months or to a fine of five hundred thousand naira,” the bill says.

This proposed bill, if passed into law, could affect one of the most popular Nigerian cross-dressers, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, aka Bobrisky, who is an LGBT personality, likewise James Chukwueze Obialor, alias James Brown and Adenrele Oluwafemi Edun, popularly known as Denrele.

The 2013 Same-Sex Prohibition bill was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan despite opposition from the international community, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom.

Mr Jonathan signed the bill into law on January 17, 2014. The then U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, had said the law “dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, association, and expression for all Nigerians.”

The existing act prescribes 14 years in imprisonment for same-sex marriage and 10 years imprisonment for aiding and abetting the act.