In January 2012, University of Liberia student Archie Ponpon founded an organization called the Movement for the Defense of Gay and Lesbian Rights in Liberia (MODEGAL), which advocated for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Liberia. Other groups, such as the Transgender Network of Liberia (TNOL), which was founded by a transgender Liberian woman in 2014, have emerged from the SAIL umbrella to further cater to specific communities and needs as independent organizations. SAIL has led trainings for the Liberian National Police on the importance of LGBT rights, and they have advocated in the media on the behalf of LGBT people. Since 2012, it has expanded its programming to include a wider range of services and has expanded its mission to include all LGBT people in Liberia. It was originally founded to educate men who have sex with men about HIV/AIDS, to test them for HIV/AIDS, and to provide counseling for those who tested positive for HIV/AIDS. Stop AIDS in Liberia (SAIL) was the first NGO founded by LGBT people in Liberia for the service of fellow LGBT people in Liberia. As a result, neither bill was enacted into law. 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. 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. 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. In 2012, two anti-LGBT bills were introduced in the Liberian Legislature. 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. 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.
![arch gay sex position arch gay sex position](https://www.verywellhealth.com/thmb/fk1vG84PKPzaHM-27KLZ-lnzg2E=/2158x1390/filters:fill(87E3EF,1)/affectionate-young-couple-in-love-lying-on-bed-at-home--talking--1158577311-e2439625204f49f2a573b5852bb5815b.jpg)
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. In late 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the United Kingdom would suspend foreign aid to countries which persecuted LGBT people. Same-sex marriage is not recognized in Liberia. Gender-affirming hormone therapy and gender-affirmation surgery are not available in Liberia. 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. 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.Įnforcement and prosecution of this law is uncommon.
![arch gay sex position arch gay sex position](https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2050116120300921-gr1.jpg)
![arch gay sex position arch gay sex position](https://www.pride.com/sites/default/files/styles/vertical_gallery_desktop_1x/public/2018/02/28/13.jpg)
#Arch gay sex position code#
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. Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Liberia.