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Under present Liberian legislation, “voluntary sodomy” carries a sentence of up to a year’s imprisonment.
But two new laws have been proposed that would see making sexual advances towards a person of the same sex punishable by up to five years imprisonment, and gay marriage punishable by up to 10 years.
Asked about whether she might decriminalise homosexuality in Liberia in a joint interview with Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister who runs a foundation that works with African governments, president Sirleaf said she would never consider it.
“I’ve already taken a position on that, that we’re not going to sign any such law, none whatsoever.
“We like ourselves just the way we are,” president Sirleaf, who became Africa’s first female president in 2006 and was elected for a second term last year, told The Guardian.
“We’ve got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve. We are going to keep to our traditional values.”
Asked what his view was on president Sirleaf’s position, a visibly uncomfortable Blair declined to comment, saying he wanted to focus on the work of his organisation, the Africa Governance Initiative, in Liberia.
“I’m not giving you an answer on it. One of the advantages of doing what I do now is I can choose the issues I get into and the issues I don’t. For us, the priorities are around power, roads, jobs delivery.”
The issue of homosexuality is a fraught one in Africa, and the practice is illegal in 37 countries.
Moves by the Anglican church to open up the clergy to gays and sanction same-sex partnerships have caused a major division between the West and African bishops. — The Telegraph.
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