Compiled by Richard Ammon GlobalGayz.com February 2012 Updated December 2016 Introduction Not surprising, homophobia continues its march across sub-Saharan Africa unabated in 2012 as Liberia lawmakers take their turn in proposing hateful anti-gay discriminatory laws. Two lawmakers in Liberia have introduced bills that could make homosexuality more dangerous than it already is but the President
Founded as a colony in 1822 by freed slaves from the United States, the area was already inhabited by various indigenous ethnic groups. In 1847, the colony of freed slaves declared independence as the Republic of Liberia. In 1980 the government was overturned in a military coup and from 1989 to 2005 Liberia was in a state of flux, witnessing two civil wars that displaced hundreds of thousands of people and devastated the country’s economy. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist, has been president since 2006. Hope for peace after brutal civil wars returned with her election, however homosexuality remains illegal. A person guilty of “voluntary sodomy” has committed a first-degree misdemeanor. In Liberia there is an atmosphere of discrimination that exists toward homosexuals and there is a need for advocates to remain discreet to avoid hostility toward them, yet no one has been arrested or prosecuted under the anti-gay laws.
Name: Liberia
Population: 3283000
Capital: Monrovia - Pop. 572000
Area: 111369 sq. km/ sq. miles
Language: English, 20 ethnic languages
Religion: Indigenous beliefs, Christian, Muslim
Status of Homosexuality: Illegal
Telephone Country Code: 231
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