Maybe I was hallucinating. After all, the Nature of Things episode I was watching on CBC Newsworld last night was about some rare, but very serious, side effects of using marijuana. It appeared during what was supposed to be a break: an advertisement urging people to invest in Cameroon.

Say what?

Was I seeing things?

Invest in a country that criminalizes same-sex relationships?

You’re kidding, right?

News flash to Cameroon: Same-sex relationships are legal in Canada. Why would Canadians invest in a country that, in my opinion, commits terrible human rights violations against LGBT people? Why would we invest in a country where homophobes and bigots take it upon themselves to dictate the parameters of love in consensual relationships between adults?

Get real. Anyone who takes even the tiniest ethical approach to investing will turn down the “invitation” to invest in Cameroon, at least until the country legalizes same-sex relationships. And, besides, there are plenty of good investment opportunities in Canada.

Then again, maybe the ad was an hallucination . . .

Jillian

P.S. Below are excerpts from a March 2013 article about Cameroon by The Associated Press.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Suspected homosexuals in Cameroon say they have been tortured and raped in prison, according to a report released Thursday by Human Rights Watch and three local organizations.

The 55-page report, titled “Guilty by Association,” documents reported abuses by authorities prosecuting suspected gays and lesbians. Those convicted can face up to five years in prison in Cameroon.

The report documents the case of one man who was tied to a chair and beaten so badly he couldn’t walk for two weeks. Another defendant described being raped repeatedly and said his rib was broken in a beating.

“Prison guards made no attempt to stop the gang rape and assault, and no one was punished for it, highlighting another sad irony of Cameroon’s law: People are convicted to prison time for consensual sexual conduct, but once in prison, convicts who are not considered ‘homosexual’ can sexually victimize them with impunity,” the report said.

Although many African countries have laws banning consensual same-sex conduct, Cameroon pursues prosecutions “more aggressively than almost any country in the world,” the report said. — Associated Press