“A step backward for equality”: Activists react to Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill
Ghana recently passed one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQIA+ bills, sparking global outrage from activists and community figures alike.
WORDS BY CONOR CLARK HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN Lawmakers in Ghana last week passed a bill that, if signed into law by President Nana Akufo-Addo, would see simply identifying as LGBTQIA+ punishable by up to three years in prison. “It’s actually really a step backward for equality,” said Jesse Sperling, the Interim Executive Director of Kaleidoscope Trust, a charity fighting for the human rights of LGBTQIA+ people across the Commonwealth, which Ghana is a member of.
The legislation – officially titled The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill – also imposes a five-year jail term for forming, funding or promoting LGBTQIA+ rights groups, something that comes amidst a wider crackdown on the community’s rights in the region.
Lawmakers from both of Ghana’s leading political parties have backed the bill, with suggestions of replacing prison sentences with community service and/or counselling heckled down by MPs.
