Dialectics of Same Sex Marriage: International Human Rights Reflections
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DIALECTICS OF SAME SEX MARRIAGE: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN
RIGHTS REFLECTIONS.
OYENIYI ABE*
I. IN TRO D U CTIO N ........................................................................................... 1
II. THEORETICAL BASIS FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ........................................ 5
A. CULTURAL DIALECTICS .................................................................... 5
B. THEORY OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION ................................................. 6
1. Constitutional Bisexuality Theory ...................................... 7
2. Parental Relationship Theory ............................................ 7
C. VARIATIO NS OF SEXUALITY .............................................................. 8
1. Heterosexuality .................................................................. 8
2. Hom osexuality and Bisexuality ........................................... 8
III. DIALECTICS O F M ARRIAGE ....................................................................... 10
A. SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA: CONSTITUTIONAL
IM PLICATIO NS ........................................................................... 12
1. Customary Practice of Same-Sex Co-Habitation ............... 16
B. THE RIGHT TO MARRY IN THE UNITED STATES: THE CASE FOR
SAM E-SEX M ARRIAGE ................................................................ 20
C. Lessons from Obergefell v. Hodges .................................. 24
IV . CO N C LU SIO N ............................................................................................ 25
I. INTRODUCTION
In much of Africa and other developing countries, same-sex marriage in
developed countries is seen as a heresy of religious, philosophical, and ethical
proportion.1 While some countries have legally recognized marriage between
persons of the same sex and others are its adoption, traditionalists and
conformists have taken a similarly strong stance against it.2 In Nigeria, the
general view is that same sex marriage is unacceptable on both moral and
* PhD Candidate, Center for Comparative Law in Africa, Faculty of Law, University of Cape
Town, South Africa. Currently, Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Loyola University School of Law,
Chicago, USA.
1. See Nick Sanchez, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe Dictator, Renounces Gay Rights in
UN Speech (September 30 2015), NEWSMAX, http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/robert-
mugabe-zimbabwe-gay-righs-u n/2015/09/30/id/694080/. See part Ill of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act [Zimbabwe], Chapter 9:23, 3 June 2005. See sections 162,
163, 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code of 1930, as revised in 2014. (Homosexuality is said to be
repugnant to equity, good conscience, and cultural values).
2. Id.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/wiswo31&div=4&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Dialectics of Same Sex Marriage: International Human Rights Reflections
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