A week after rejecting a proposal to reduce some of its measures, such as non-custodial sentences like gay sex counseling, the country’s parliament on Wednesday (Feb 28), approved a controversial bill to severely restrict LGBTQ rights.
The bill still needs to be signed by the president before it becomes law, which has been extensively denounced by rights campaigners.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has so far not confirmed or refuted his plan to pass the “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values” act, but he is commonly anticipated to do so. However, according to AFP, observers think it’s unlikely before a December vote.
If the majority of Ghanaians want him to, the president has stated that he will sign the bill.
Homosexuality is already prohibited in the East African nation and is punishable by three years in prison, but under the new legislation, the maximum sentence would increase to five years.
The bill makes it illegal to identify as LGBTQ+
Additionally, the bill would forbid people from identifying as LGBTQ+, and those found guilty may receive a three-year prison sentence.
The new act would sentence those found guilty of violating LGBTQ rights to judicial sentences and has also attempted to punish the promotion and advocacy of those rights. Additionally, it would legalize the distribution of content that promotes LGBTQ+ rights.
Following a second reading in the parliament, the bill, which was sponsored by a group of conservative Ghanaian, Christian, and Muslim leaders, was unanimously approved.
Watered-down steps proposal is rejected
Ghana’s parliament rejected a proposal to relax some of its harsh measures, such as offering gay sex clients counseling and community service, last week (Feb 21).
Alexander Afenyo-Markin, a member of the ruling party, proposed an amendment, claimed that imprisoning people for LGBTQ+ crimes had “worsened sexuality and its advertising” and may undermine the president’s original intent.
Definitely wrong
A part of the Big 18 & Human Rights Coalition, a group of lawyers and activists in Ghana, claimed that the bill makes it illegal to identify someone and that they call on the leader to accept it.
“You never criminalize a person’s identification, and that’s what the bill is doing and it’s totally wrong,” Takyiwaa Manuh told AFP. We want to persuade the president not to approve the bill because it utterly violates the transgender community’s human rights.
The United Nations stated that the bill would “create a system of state-sponsored discrimination and violence” against sexual minorities in 2021 when it was first proposed.
A 27-year-old activist who requested anonymity from the organization reported to Reuters last week that the group was in a state of panic as the bill was about to pass. She said, “We would now have to be even more cautious with our way of life.”
