Parliament has passed the bill on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values, commonly referred to as the anti-LGBTQ bill. This legislation prohibits LGBT activities and criminalizes their promotion, advocacy, and funding.
Individuals found engaged in such activities could face a jail term ranging from six months to three years, while promoters and sponsors of these acts could be sentenced to three to five years in prison.
Prior to the bill’s passage, sponsors filed a motion for further consideration, particularly focusing on clauses 10 and 11, which pertain to the editorial policies of media firms. Lead sponsor Samuel Nartey George proposed that these clauses be subject to Article 12 of the 1992 constitution, which safeguards freedom of the media. The House approved these amendments as part of the bill.
However, a motion by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin to subject clause 12, which deals with the funding of LGBT activities, to constitutional review was rejected by the House.
The passage of the bill by Parliament follows a call from Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, the Board Chair of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), urging President Akufo-Addo to reject it. Prof. Gadzekpo argued that the bill undermines fundamental human rights protected by the Constitution, including dignity, freedom of speech and association, academic freedom, equality, and non-discrimination. She emphasized the importance of upholding these rights for Ghana’s constitutional democracy, warning that their alteration could endanger democratic principles.
The bill now awaits presidential assent to become law. President Nana Akufo-Addo has not indicated whether he will sign it.
The United Nations raised concerns in 2021, stating that the proposed law would institutionalize discrimination and violence against sexual minorities. Uganda enacted one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT laws in May 2023, imposing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which led to widespread abuse and the suspension of new funding from the World Bank.
