Study LGBTQ Bill carefully before passing it – Parliament urged

Advocate for Social Intervention Ghana (ASIG) has called on Parliament to study the proposed anti-LGBTQ+ Bill currently before it carefully before passing it into law.

Parliament should take the time necessary to study the implications of the proposed Bill and consider the potential consequences and impact it might have on marginalized communities.

“Members of Parliament should exercise their duties with due diligence, impartiality and equitable manner without pressure from groups or individuals, since the issue is purely legal and not biblical, cultural or an opinion”.

These were contained in a statement jointly signed by Mr Emmanuel Arthur, Chief Executive Officer, and Mr Clinton Adu Gyamfi, IT and Research Assistant of ASIG and issued to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi.

The statement made reference to the recent supreme court ruling on the case involving Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, the former Auditor General and the state, and said the inability of the Attorney General office to effectively defend the government’s position regarding the former Auditor General’s leave as stated in the labour Act, Act 651 2003 and the Restrictions Act, 2020, raised serious concern about the competence and impartiality of the country’s legal system.

According to the statement, the ruling by the Supreme Court on Mr Domelevo’s case indicated that Article 12 (1) and Article 21 of the 1992 constitution, could cause Ghana, if the proposed LGBTQ+ Bill is passed in its present form.
The statement said the only way the State could prevent homosexuality was to prevent people of the same sex from getting married, but restricting someone’s movement was against fundamental freedoms as enshrined in the 1992 constitution.

It therefore called on Parliament to discharge its duties with professionalism and not resort to pressure from any groups or individuals.