Anti-LGBTQ+ bill: Culprits, sympathisers could face 10-year jail term

The simmering sentiments about LGBTQ+ activities in Ghana have crept back into the public discourse in light of some extreme sanctions which have come to the fore.

This time, it has to do with some strong reservations which have greeted a 36-page bill yet to be sent to Parliament for consideration in order to criminalise the act.

The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021 will see culprits face a jail term of up to ten years depending on the crime, if passed in its current state.

Individuals of the same sex who engage in sexual intercourse are “liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than seven hundred and fifty penalty units and not more than five thousand penalty units, or to a term of imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than five years or both.”

This encompasses any person who “holds out as a lesbian, a gay, a transgender, a transsexual, a queer, a pansexual, an ally, a non-binary or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female.”

Anti-LGBT+ legislators had earlier hinted at ongoing deliberations on a document to render the group’s promotion and advocacy illegal.

Ningo – Prampram legislator Sam George and 7 other members of parliament including the NPP’s John Ntim Fordjour drafted the bill which they are seeking to introduce in the house as a private member’s bill for the necessary approval.

On 29th June 2021, they symbolically submitted a copy of the draft bill to the speaker Alban Bagbin for his review at a meeting of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship.

The Speaker is expected to create a window on the floor of the House to allow the MPs to formally move their private member’s bill soon.

Source: myjoyonline.com