Ghana Set to Pass Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill After Supreme Court Ruling
July 28, 2023Ghana looks set to ratify a Bill criminalising the advocation of same-sex relationships and trans rights after the country’s Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge.
The ‘Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values’ bill, drafted in August 2021, threatens those in the LGBTQ+ community as well as advocacy groups.
Should the draconian Bill be adopted into law, people found to be advocating LGBTQ+ rights could face prison sentences of up to 10 years, according to ‘Inside The Games’.
Anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ could also be jailed for three to five years.
Amanda Odoi, an academic researcher and activist, failed a lawsuit earlier this month, arguing that the legislation was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court of Ghana has ruled to unanimously dismiss the challenge after concluding that her claims were not sufficiently convincing to block the Parliamentary proceedings, according to ‘Reuters’.
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The Ghanaian Parliament adopted the motion of the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill on July 5 following the second reading.
The Bill is going through the final stages of the approval process which is expected to be granted and signed into law.
It is set to be one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world.
United States vice-president Kamala Harris is among those to condemn the bill after visiting Ghana in March.
“I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting the freedom and supporting the fighting for equality among all people, and that all people be treated equally,” said Harris.
“I will also say that this is an issue that we consider and I consider to be a human rights issue, and that will not change.”
The United Nations has also urged the Ghanaian Government to reject the legislation which it claims seeks to establish a “state-sponsored discrimination and violence against the LGBTI community”.
“The draft legislation appears to be the result of a deep loathing toward the LGBTI community,” the UN Human Rights experts said in a report in 2021.
“It will not only criminalise LGBTI people, but anyone who supports their human rights, shows sympathy to them or is even remotely associated with them.
“Given that LGBTI people are present in every family and every community it is not very difficult to imagine how, if it were to be adopted, this legislation could create a recipe for conflict and violence.”
Ghana will host The African Games next year. The African Games were originally scheduled to be held this August in Ghanian capital Accra only to be postponed to March 8 to 23 due to economic pressures and delays in preparations.
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