Policing Fashion and Freedom in Nigeria

April 21, 2022 – These are not easy days in Nigeria. Amid a global pandemic and severe inflation that have forced many Nigerians into untold hardship, there are frightening and destabilizing incidents such as the March 28 deadly train attack by gunmen near the northern city of Kaduna that has left at least 168 persons missing. So, amidst the calls to secure lives and strengthen democracy in the giant of Africa, what are Nigerian policymakers concerned with?

Criminalizing what Nigerian citizens choose to wear — literally policing fashion for those Nigerians who defy gender norms.

On April 5, a legislator introduced a bill in Nigeria’s House of Representatives seeking to ban cross-dressing, making the practice punishable by up to six months in prison or a fine of five hundred thousand naira (roughly $1200 USD).

The bill seeks to amend the 2013 Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, or SSMPA, by introducing cross-dressing as one of the offenses punishable under the Act. Even without this proposed legislation, Nigeria is widely considered hostile towards its LGBTQI community: the country scored a perfect 0% on the CGE-F&M Global Barometers LGBTQI Report Card released last December, failing to meet any of the 30 indicators measuring how the country protects LGBTQI human rights, protects LGBTQI citizens from violence, and advances LGBTQI socio-economic inclusion.

SSMPA itself is misleading by design, as its most damaging provisions are not about same-sex relationship recognition but are in fact a far more insidious denial of freedom of association and expression targeting LGBTQI organizations and activists. 

So while laws like the SSMPA already exist to criminalize LGBTQI Nigerians, this effort to ban cross-dressing arguably targets all Nigerians.

Denying an individual in a free society the right to freely express themselves, including through their self-presentation, is an egregious human rights violation antithetical to a democratic society. Nevertheless, despite its very complex challenges, the Nigerian government is proposing to do just that.

Much of the Nigerian media coverage of the bill focuses on gender-bending entertainers such as Bobrisky and James Brown, who, in American contexts, might well be understood as drag queens. But while the proposed act provides an exception for entertainment, there is no guide on how a ban on cross-dressing could be enforced.

Nigerians are already suffering under the brutal force of law enforcement officials who organize raids and arbitrary arrests using fashion as a ground for suspicion of guilt, and there is little doubt that this bill, if passed, would place Nigeria’s most vulnerable citizens in even greater danger.

According to a police spokesperson for Lagos State, Nigerians who dress in certain ways are prone to arbitrary arrest and interrogation because they associate specific self-presentation choices — say, tattoos or dreadlocks — with criminal activity or membership in suspicious organizations.

The epidemic of police brutality and arbitrary arrest spawned the #EndSARS movement, the street and social media protests demanding an end to the impunity enjoyed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have long documented the use of torture, ill-treatment, and extra-judicial execution against suspects by SARS. The #EndSARS movement spawned the October 2020 protests led by young people of the “Soro Soke” generation (that is, “Speak Up” in Yoruba). During these demonstrations, which rank among the largest demonstrations in Nigeria’s modern history, excessive police violence claimed the lives of at least 56 demonstrators. Those protests paralyzed the country for days, as young Nigerians stood up against the arbitrary arrests, extortion, entrapment, sexual violence, and murders committed by members of SARS.

On a first glance, the current proposal to criminalize cross-dressing might not obviously connect to the #EndSARS movement. But protestors spoke extensively of the flimsy justifications used by the police to detain Nigerians, from driving an expensive car to owning a laptop or smartphone. Moreover, many of those harassed or arrested by Nigerian law enforcement were stopped on account of their clothing or hairstyle.

The legislative assault on Nigeria’s LGBTQI community — both the original SSMPA and the proposed new bill — must be understood in the context of the fragile rule of law and the human rights violations to which vulnerable citizens are regularly subjected.

If the cross-dressing ban succeeds and laws like the SSMPA remain on the books, Nigerians could be arrested for simply tying a scarf or wearing a piece of clothing another individual finds offensive. Such laws are fundamentally dangerous to democracy, as they infringe on the rights of minorities. Moreover, the arbitrary nature of how authorities interpret and apply the laws in practice further undermine the rule of law and, ultimately, the basic stability of Nigerian society.

For an aspiring democracy with a thriving civil society, Nigeria should not undermine the rule of law by passing the proposed cross-dressing ban. Instead, Nigeria should focus on the path forward to building a functional democracy where freedom is upheld, justice is guaranteed, and the security of lives and property are protected. Nigeria also should seek opportunities to engage with other democratic nations, including participating fully in the Biden Administration’s Summit for Democracy and submitting a formal commitment as part of that dialogue. And ultimately, to strengthen its democracy, Abuja must safeguard the rights of its LGBTQI citizens and repeal the SSMPA, thus ensuring that the rights of every Nigerian are guaranteed and protected and that all citizens have the opportunity to fully participate in Nigerian democracy.