Senate Approves Anti-Gay Marriage Bill

Today the Senate voted to criminalize gay marriage, instituting prison terms of more than a decade for violations in Nigeria.

The bill heads to the House of Representatives, who have to approve the bill and send it to President Goodluck Jonathan for his signature before it becomes a law. However, public opinion - and lawmakers' calls for even harsher penalties for being gay - shows wide support for the measure in the deeply religious nation.

"Such elements in society should be killed," Sen. Baba Dati said during the debate.

Under the measure, couples who marry could face up to 14 years in jail, and witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars. That's an increase over the bill's initial penalties.

Homosexuality is already technically illegal in Nigeria, a country evenly divided between Christians and Muslims that is nearly universally opposed to homosexuality. In the areas in Nigeria's north where Islamic Shariah law has been enforced for about a decade, gays and lesbians can face death by stoning.