Don’t judge gays and lesbians – TB Joshua

Renowned Nigerian Pastor, T B Joshua says gays and lesbians should not be judged.

Answering a question on his official facebook page about what he made of homosexuality, Joshua said: “Judge not, so that you will not be judged (Matthew 7:1)”.

According to him, “We should talk to people to be saved and not to die”.

“I mean, we should talk salvation, not condemnation. The Bible is my standard”, he said.

TB Joshua nonetheless pointed out that: “If my parents were one [gay], I would not have been given birth to. Those that are asking this question – if your parents were one, you would not have been given birth to. You that are reading me – if your parents were one, you would not be reading this today. God bless the reader and the hearer.”

Joshua’s comments come on the heels of his country’s President’s recent assent to a new legislation that bans same-sex marriages, gay groups and shows of same-sex public affection.

The law, signed by Goodluck Jonathan without any announcement, prescribes up to 14 years prison sentence for same-sex couples who breach the law.

The act was adopted by the Nigerian Senate in 2011 and passed by the lower house of parliament in May 2013.

“This is a law that is in line with the people’s cultural and religious inclination. So it is a law that is a reflection of the beliefs and orientation of Nigerian people,” presidential spokesman Reuben Abati told the Associated Press news agency.

Gay rights groups in Nigeria and the World have however condemned the law.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said it curbs “freedom of assembly, association and expression for all Nigerians”.

He said the act was “inconsistent with Nigeria’s international legal obligations and undermines the democratic reforms and human rights protections enshrined in its 1999 constitution”.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay described the law as “draconian”.

“Rarely have I seen a piece of legislation that in so few paragraphs directly violates so many basic, universal human rights,” she said.

A number of other African nations have already made homosexuality punishable by jail sentences.

In December, Ugandan MPs passed a bill increasing sentences for homosexual acts to life in jail and making it punishable by a prison term not to report gay people.