The homosexuality tension in Ghana boiled over in January when an LGBTQ community center opened in Accra, sparking fury from some Ghanaians. The center was forced to close less than a month later, however the debate has now heightened with the introduction of the anti-LGBTG+ bill.
Most Rev.Philip Naame of the Catholic Bishops’ conference, has stated that “anything that we believe is sinful and does not please God cannot be accepted by any sector of society as normal.”
According to him on e.TVs Fact Sheet with Samuel Eshun , “we cannot on an ongoing basis try to offend God. So long as we remain Human we are all sinful, that doesn’t warrant us to declare some sins as normal.”
Same-sex relations are banned in more than half of Africa’s 54 nations. Some countries, including Botswana and Gabon, have moved recently to decriminalize homosexual relations, but others have stuck with penal codes inherited from former colonial powers.
Researchers say the proposal in Ghana casts an unusually wide net for possible transgressions: A pro-LGBTQ tweet, for instance, could be a violation.
Earlier this year, the Speaker of Parliament received a private member bill from 8 MPs that would expand on the current law that provides up to three years in prison for same-sex activity.
The new bill when passed will prohibit and criminalize advocacy, funding and act of LGBTQ+ while promoting conversion therapy programs seeking to “convert” people from homosexuality to heterosexuality.
Meanwhile, fifteen renowned legal, academic and civil society professionals have filled a memorandum challenging the anti-gay legislation submitted to Parliament.
By : Naa Yarteley Yartey