INTERNATIONAL POLITICS OF GAY RIGHTS AND NIGERIA-US DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
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Gay marriage or same sex marriage is a union that allows any two
consenting individuals of the same biological sex to form an intimate
relationship. The issue of same sex marriage is a controversial discourse in
international relations today. The various dimensions of the discourses on the
subject of gay marriage show a paradigm shift in the concept of marriage
from the traditional and orthodox conception of a male- female consensual
relationship to the coming together of any two individuals of any sex - even
of the same sex. Using secondary data, analysed through textual and
descriptive methods, the paper demonstrates that the politics of gay marriage
diplomacy reveals the clash between western civilization, globalization,
sovereignty, territorial integrity of states, human right and traditional societal
beliefs or norms. Indeed, this was epitomized in the recent strain in Nigeria-
U.S diplomatic relations. The paper further observes that over an issue of
national concern – same sex marriage - the multicultural dimension of the
Nigerian state was relegated to the background and new boundaries of
loyalty that defiled ethnic sentiments and religious inclinations surfaced in
the country amongst the various religious and ethnic groups. It thus,
recommends that although Nigeria’s stance on the issue of gay diplomacy
not only shook the fabric of her nationhood and caused a diplomatic faceoff
between the country and U.S, it is an opportunity for Nigeria to reappraise
the nature of her diplomatic relations with the US
Keywords
JA Political science (General), JZ International relations