Gays in Nigeria by (Rt. Rev.) Mark S. Sisk

The New York Times
March 14, 2007
Gays in Nigeria (1 Letter)

To the Editor:

Re “Denying Rights in Nigeria” (editorial, March 8):

I am embarrassed to learn that an archbishop of the Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, is a major supporter of the odious Nigerian legislation designed to deny basic human rights to gay and lesbian people.

What deeply saddens me is that he is a well-regarded leader to many of the most conservative Episcopalians in this country. But what puzzles me is the apparent willingness of the archbishop of Canterbury and other primates of the Anglican Communion to appease him in his insistence that the Episcopal Church’s welcome of gay and lesbian people is somehow un-Christian.

As your editorial rightly concludes, this proposed legislation, and his support of it, are a chilling reminder of the profound dangers to which bigotry can open us.

Supine complicity with such a view, as you rightly stated, “sets a treacherous example for the region and the world.”

(Rt. Rev.) Mark S. Sisk
New York, March 9, 2007
The writer is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.


ニューヨークタイムズ社説：ナイジェリア同性婚禁止法案で否定される人権