MONROVIA, LIBERIA – Last week, the Liberian Senate passed an amendment to the nation’s constitution to ban same-sex marriages. The measure was tagged onto existing language in the governing document that bans bigamy, and marriage between close family members, and adds “or persons of the same sex” to the text.

“My bill seeks to ensure that people of the same sex under our law should not be allowed to get married,” said Senate judiciary committee chairman Joseph Nagbe. A second bill that would make same-sex relations a capital offense is currently before the Liberian House of Representatives, and has been dubbed a sister to Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill.

Homosexuality is illegal in Liberia under existing anti-sodomy provisions, though they are rarely enforced in full. Same-sex marriage is not expressly addressed in the nation’s constitution.