A repressive anti-LGBT bill would forbid gay and oral sex by anyone who supports LGBTQ rights.
Despite homophobes’ assurances of swift action, the Ghanaian parliament has adjourned for the year without passing the legislation that was once referred to as “the worst anti-LGBTQ bill ever.”
According to the LGBTQ rights organization Rightify Ghana, the bill was expected to be passed before Christmas and before the end of the year, according to earlier common assurances from Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin and other supporters, including member of parliament Sam George.
However, the parliament didn’t set a date to meet before adjourning on December 23.
According to Rightify Ghana, the same vows and inaction also happened in 2021 and 2022. Of the 25 provisions of the bill, only six have been discussed. Even among the six, the group claimed that some clauses had not yet been finalized and that those that had been deleted would become reintroduced under unresolved provisions.
The bill, as formerly proposed, would raise Ghana’s existing law, which allows for a three-year sentence for same-sex intimacy, to as many as five years. Additionally, it could make “public display of amorous relations” between people of the same sex illegal as well as gender reassignment surgery, crossdressing, oral and anal sexual activity, and sexual toys. It would also outlaw campaigning for LGBTQ rights.
