Nigerian Muslims Rioting Over Cross Dressers

Clash over Nigeria cross-dressing

Police in northern Nigeria have clashed with Muslim youths angry at a Sharia court's decision to grant bail to 18 men accused of dressing as women.

For about 30 minutes, the protesters held up traffic on Bauchi's main street chanting slogans saying the accused men had been let off lightly.

Have the gay rights advocates on the left have seen this story?

"The 18 men were arrested two weeks ago in a hotel room in Bauchi, which is governed by the Islamic Sharia legal system.

Although they were initially accused of sodomy, the charges have now been changed to "indecent dressing" or cross-dressing and "vagrancy".

"Any (male) person who dresses .. in the fashion of a woman in a public place... will be liable to a term of one year or 30 lashes" a spokesman for the local sharia police, Muhamad Muhamad Bununu, told AFP news agency.

The Sharia punishment for sodomy is death by stoning, but he said that was much harder to prove as four witnesses were needed.

More than a dozen Nigerian Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning for sexual offences ranging such as adultery and homosexuality.

I personally don't care who sleeps with who, as long as they are consenting adults. Knock yourself out for all I care.

But those with "alternate lifestyles" need to start paying attention to what is going on around the world, and wake up to the fact that conservatives are not the biggest threat to your way of life.

Christiane Amanpour was unavailable for comment.