A draft bill has entered Ghana’s parliament that will imprison everyone in the LGBTQ community and anyone who supports them.
According to The Guardian, the bill, tentatively titled the “promotion of proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values bill” states that LGBTQ and intersex people are intrinsically wrong, are against God’s wishes, and are hurting society.
The bill is even threatening “violators” with “no less than five years” and “up to ten years” imprisonment. According to BBC West Africa (which is written in Pidgin), the bill states, “Anybody wey go use media, technological platform, technological account or any other means, produce, procure, market, broadcast, disseminate, publish or distribute material for purposes of promoting activity prohibited under de Bill, or a person wey go use internet… commit offence wey dem be liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years den not more than ten years.”
The proposed bill has worried activists and diplomats around the world, as it would become one of the most hateful anti-LGBTQ laws on the planet.
Many in Ghana are also wondering where the bill came from. For example, the bill uses the phrase “LGBTQ” which isn’t a common phrase in Ghana, and the bill also brings up adoption, which again, isn’t a common practice in Ghana. Some activists are wondering if the bill was introduced by pro-conservative, religious organizations from other nations.
You know what i think, our MPs didn't write that bill themselves.
Some anti LGBTQ evangelicals somewhere wrote it for them.
I think that especially because of the adoption part of the Bill. Adoption isn't that big in GH that our MPs thought of it for those specific scenario
— We the Unwilling (@Amegaxi) July 23, 2021
You can show your support to the LGBTQ community in Ghana by supporting local groups like LGBT+ Rights Ghana and international watchdogs organizations like the Human Rights Watch.
