A bill that would criminalize cross-dressing has been thrown out of the House of Representatives as the deputy speaker, Idris Wase, on Tuesday 13th September 2022, ordered the sponsor of the bill, Muda Lawal, to step down the bill.
The bill suffered a temporary setback during plenary because the Deputy Speaker was not convinced by the arguments presented by the sponsor.
Initially introduced in April 2022, the bill seeks to amend the same-sex marriage (prohibition) act of 2013 by including cross-dressing as one of the offenses under the act.
If passed into law, cross-dressers risk six months in prison or a fine of five hundred thousand naira.
It is worthy to note however, that this is not a rejection of the bill, as it could still be debated again if the sponsor provides a convincing argument.
Story: Hauwa Mohammed