The measure deepens the country’s already anti-LGBTQ+ laws (Picture: Reuters)
Ghana’s parliament on Wednesday approved a bill that will see people jailed simply for ‘identifying’ as LGBTQ+ or campaigning for queer rights.
Being gay has been illegal in the West African nation since the 19th century in a law originating from colonial times.
But lawmakers introduced the bill in 2021 to toughen the anti-LGBTQ+ laws already in the books.
The legislation, known as the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghananian Family Values Bill 2021, is among the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ measures on the African continent, according to Amnesty International.
If signed into law by President Nana Akufo-Addo, being LGBTQ+ would be criminalised and carry a three-year jail sentence.
So-called ‘promoters’ of LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’ – from activists and donors to journalists – could be sentenced to five years.
Parliamentarians in Accra criminalised everything from same-sex public displays of action to cross-dressing (Picture: AP)
Those found to have engaged in same-sex relations – a first-degree felony – will be thrown behind bars for five years. Cross-dressing will also be outlawed.
‘After three long years, we have finally passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act,’ Sam George, one of the main sponsors of the bill, said on X.
In recent days, however, the passage of Ghana’s was slowed by requests to soften the punishments by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party.
He had asked parliamentarians to consider counselling or community service rather than jail time for LGBTQ+ Ghanaians.
The act follows a years-long campaign from the country’s Christian, Muslim and traditional leaders to further criminalise LGBTQ+ people and those who support them.
Both of Ghana’s top political parties have backed the sweeping bill all while politicians and religious chiefs have spouted baseless claims, such as gay sex ‘causing earthquakes’.
But Ghana has not been alone. Other African nations such as Nigeria and most recently Uganda have also passed anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has swelled in some parts of Africa, such as Uganda (Picture: AFP)
Being queer in Ghana is ‘far-fetched’, the legislation’s memorandum states, referring to homosexuality as ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’ throughout.
The memorandum describes being LGBTQ+ as a Western influence that ‘threatens’ the sanctity of the traditional African family, comparable to incest and bestiality.
‘We are most concerned about the need to ensure that the overwhelming public abhorrence for LGBTTQQIAAP+ activities is not channelled into mob justice,’ it adds, justifying the need for harsher laws.
United Nations officials have warned since 2021 that, if passed, the law would ‘create a system of state-sponsored discrimination and violence’.
Rightify Ghana, a top human rights group, would agree. Campaigners said in a statement shared on X this evening that the ‘draconian’ law ‘represents a blatant disregard for the principles of democracy’.
‘It infringes on fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and expression, the right to privacy, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and more,’ the group added.
Winnie Byanyi, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, warned the bill would ‘affect everyone’ and is a public health disaster in the making.
‘Approaches rooted in inclusion of all people have been crucial to Ghana’s progress in the HIV response,’ Byanyima said in a statement.
‘To achieve the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, it is vital to ensure that everyone has equal access to essential services without fear, stigma or discrimination and that providers of life-saving HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care services are supported in their work.’
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