Lecture
Non-criminalisation and super-criminalisation of same-sex love: Visibility and invisibility in Vietnam and East & West Africa
- Phuc Nguyen and Seun Bakare
- Date
- Tuesday 30 July 2024
- Time
- Explanation
- H'ART Museum is the museum formerly known as 'Hermitage'.
- Address
- H'ART Museum
Amstel 51
1018 EJ Amsterdam
Two talks hosted by Leiden University at Amsterdam Pride (as part of the Shakespeare Club programme organised by COC Amsterdam and the H’ART Museum)
- Phuc Nguyen (political scientist from Vietnam) will speak about:
(In-)Visibility and non-criminalisation of same-sex love in Vietnam - Seun Bakare (lawyer from Nigeria) will speak about:
Super-criminalisation of same-sex love in East and West African countries - Kees Waaldijk (Professor of Comparative Sexual Orientation Law, Leiden University) will introduce the speakers and lead the discussion.
About the theme
One of the most worrying developments in sexual orientation law across the globe is the recent 'super-criminalisation' of homosexuality in a small – yet growing – number of countries. In these countries, sexual contact between members of the same sex has already been outlawed for a very long time. Super-criminalisation means that other expressions and aspects of same-sex orientation are also being turned into criminal offences that carry severe penalties. Legislation of this kind sometimes includes the prohibition of specific forms of gender expression.
The super-criminalisation of homosexuality in countries such as Nigeria and Uganda contrasts with the large – and also increasing – number of countries where same-sex sex has been decriminalised.
The situation contrasts even more sharply with situations in countries such as Vietnam, where homosexual behaviour has not been a crime for centuries now. We refer to this as 'non-criminalisation'. And yet, in spite of its long history of non-criminalisation, Vietnam was the first country in the world where it became an offence (between 2000 and 2013) to conduct and celebrate an unofficial wedding between same-sex partners. Nigeria was the second country to introduce this kind of criminal offence, with the 'Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act' that became law back in 2013. This law also prohibits many other aspects of and support for homosexual orientation.
Similar super-criminalisation laws have recently been adopted or proposed in Uganda, Ghana and Kenya. What does this all mean for the lives and invisibility of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and other gender minorities? Our speakers will explore that question during two talks hosted by Leiden University as part of the 'Shakespeare Club' programme run by COC Amsterdam and the H'ART Museum.
Speakers
Phuc Nguyen holds a master's degree in Global Politics and International Relations from the University of Macerata. His previous work focused on litigation brought to the European Court of Human Rights on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. He is now in his final year of his PhD at the same Italian university. In his doctoral thesis, he analyses Vietnam's legal framework in relation to sexual minorities and seeks to understand why there has been and still is a significant silence on various matters concerning non-normative sexual orientation and gender identity in Vietnam's legal arena. More information.
Seun Bakare is a Senior Associate for East and West Africa at the Human Dignity Trust (a non-governmental international organisation that uses the law to defend the human rights of LGBTQI+ people). He previously worked as Director of Programmes at Amnesty International in Nigeria, where he was in charge of research, campaigns and advocacy. He has also worked at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Nigeria and a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in international human rights law from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria. He is currently in the final stages of his PhD, focusing on international criminal law at Leiden University. More information.
Kees Waaldijk was appointed to Leiden University’s sponsored chair in Comparative Sexual Orientation Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies in 2011. Since publishing his first article on same-sex marriage back in 1987, he has contributed to the legal recognition of same-sex partners both within the Netherlands and abroad. He founded the Global Index on Legal Recognition of Homosexual Orientation and Leiden University’s Summer School on Sexual Orientation in International Law. He has written on the right to relate and co-wrote the Leiden Overview of SOGIESC in International Law. More information.
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