In 2011 the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace “for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” Today she is defending her laws criminalising homosexuality in Liberia. This woman should be stripped of her Nobel prize for PEACE! The hint is in the title. Where is the peace in defending the criminialisation of the way somebody is born? Should the Nobel Committee not see fit to issue a statement concerning her comments? The very fact that she expounds such medieval beliefs reflects directly on the Nobel foundation and any silence its your behalf would therefore by extension be a reflection on the Nobel Foundation as a whole. Interestingly Thorbjørn Jagland the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Human Rights organisation in Strasbourg, is also the Chair of the Nobel Committee.

Perhaps she should be stripped of the prize. Her words alone are a violation of human rights. Shame on her.

why is it so hard to respect an individual sexuality…if some1 want to be gay or lesbien,whats the big deal

Being gay isn’t new,people have been gay since people have existed. When the hell will people just accept it and move on? Stupid woman!

Liberia is a bit like Ireland in some respects, in that while they profess that church and state are separate, it’s really operated as a Christian country, with schools etc teaching religion (ie Christian religion) as a core subject, businesses closed on Sunday & church holidays and so on.

This is the extreme sort of legislation you get when you impose the beliefs of a religion on the affairs of state. We, thankfully, are moving away from this kind of thing, though we have a way to travel yet. I had enormous admiration for this woman when I read about her after she was awarded the Nobel Prize. It’s evaporated now, she really ought to be ashamed, as should Tony Blair for copping out of commenting.

So thats the sorta of people who get Nobel Peace awards..yeah rite. Just take the bloody thing off her.

Ok..so if this is their ethos..lets give one to Mugabee, that Syrian tyrant…Hilter, Sadam, and any other dead murderer of civilians. My stomach is turning. Imagine the fear both lesbian and gay people must be living under in that country. A disgrace.

With repressive laws they can’t really justify calling the country Liberia anymore, can they?

I think Quentin Crisp was bang on in 1968 when he said “Enlightenment does not produce tolerance, tolerance is the result of boredom. The facts have to be repeated over and over until in the end people say “Alright so your queer just talk about something else” and then the work is done”.

What an ignorant hypocrite, did she not get her prize for fighting against “traditional values” and male dominated society?

It just goes to show how corrupt the Nobel Peace Prize Committee are
These are basic fundamental human rights.

The Nobel Prizes have been a joke for a long time but that’s not the issue here. The west should start cutting back it’s aid to African governments that pass laws like this and channel the funds into non discriminatory NGO’s operating in those countries. In 2008 alone the Liberian government was spending seven time’s it’s own national budget in foreign aid, which is a problem in itself, and if they and other states continue to pass laws like this then we can be assured they’ll be using funds they receive in intergovernmental aid to enforce these laws. If anything it’s yet another reason why intergovernmental aid should be scrapped altogether in favor of direct aid and micro-loans.

Yes, there is a point when people say such a thing would just be western liberals enforcing their views on sovereign African states by endorsing such policies, but individual rights always come before state’s rights and somebody has to do something if those states aren’t protecting the civil rights of their citizens if only to make a point about it.

Anton. really. what a stupid statement. and as for tony Blair. that confounding makes it sound like he agrees with and and just championed the rights of gay people in the UK cos it was part me his job. That’s a shocking law to bring in .

Is it a surprise that in a country torn apart by civil war, where ritual sacrifice and cannibalism were commonplace, that laws such as this were implemented! Google Joshua Blahyi, a leader of rebellion in Liberia, who has admitted to murder and cannibalism, but has been acquitted of his crimes because he’s now a preacher! It is a sad fact that in countries with extreme religiosity, there are more limiting and sometimes hateful laws!

The liberal western view is predominant in the comments here. Liberia is not D4 and does not have RTE and Fianna Fail to promote a liberal western worldview

Liberia is Africa, and if the Liberian President became a homosexual rights advocate, she’d become unemployed the same day. It’s a shame so many people here choose to mindlessly condemn her without considering where she is.

“The George” would likely not trade very long in Freetown before being burned down by the people, whatever the legal status of such a place and it’s clientele.

Its up to each individual community to set the parameters for acceptable behaviour. Liberia has the right to do so.