Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Liberia face legal and social challenges which others in the country do not experience. LGBT people in Liberia encounter widespread discrimination, including harassment, death threats, and at times physical attacks. Several prominent Liberian politicians and organizations have campaigned to restrict LGBT rights further, while several local, Liberian-based organizations exist to advocate and provide services for the LGBT community in Liberia. Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized regardless of the gender of those involved, with a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and same-sex marriage is illegal.
Legal status
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Liberia. Sections 14.74 and 14.79 of Liberia's penal code defines consensual same-sex sexual activity as "voluntary sodomy," a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine of up to L$1000, or both. The law applies to all individuals engaging in oral or anal sexual activity who "are not husband and wife or living together as man and wife though not legally married." As a result, same-sex sexual activity in Liberia is criminalized, regardless of the gender of the people participating in it. Under section 50.8 subsection 1. "First degree misdemeanor. A defendant convicted of a misdemeanor of the first degree may be sentenced as for a felony of the third degree if the court is satisfied that there is an exceptional need for rehabilitative or incapacitative measures for the protection of the public in view of the fact that this is the third conviction against the defendant within five years for misdemeanors of the first degree or more serious crimes." Section 50.5 subsection c. says "For a felony of the third degree, to a definite term of imprisonment to be fixed by the court, the maximum of which shall be three years."
Enforcement and prosecution of this law is uncommon. However, the fact that the law exists can deter LGBT victims of crimes from reporting them to police, as some LGBT people have been arrested on the basis of their sexuality or gender identity after their attackers used the fact they were part of the LGBT community as an excuse for their crimes.
Gender-affirming hormone therapy and gender-affirmation surgery are not available in Liberia. Same-sex marriage is not recognized in Liberia.
Legislation considered in 2012
In late 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the United Kingdom would suspend foreign aid to countries which persecuted LGBT people. In December of that year, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech urging nations around the world to respect LGBT rights, the same day an Obama administration memo was released directing all US government agencies to do what they could to promote LGBT rights abroad, including by taking LGBT rights into account when making decisions about foreign aid or migrants' asylum status. Several Liberian news outlets reported that the United States planned to stop granting foreign aid to countries which did not sufficiently respect LGBT rights or, in particular, countries which did not recognize same-sex marriage. This triggered a backlash against LGBT rights and LGBT people in Liberia, including multiple pieces of anti-LGBT legislation and an increase in violent attacks against LGBT people.
In 2012, two anti-LGBT bills were introduced in the Liberian Legislature. A bill introduced by Representative Clarence Massaquoi proposed increasing the penalty for same-sex sexual activity, from a first-degree misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of one year in prison to a second-degree felony with a maximum prison sentence of five years. A separate bill introduced by then-Senator Jewel Howard Taylor would have categorized same-sex marriage as a first-degree felony, with a maximum ten-year prison sentence. In response, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf threatened to veto either bill, while also defending the existing laws criminalizing same-sex sexual activity as a misdemeanor, ascribing existing laws to "traditional values in our society that we'd like to preserve." Massaquoi's bill to increase the penalties for same-sex sexual activity failed to pass either the House or Senate, while Taylor's bill to criminalize same-sex marriage was passed by the Senate but not the House. As a result, neither bill was enacted into law.