A controversial anti- LGBTQI+ bill passed by Ghana's parliament in May introduces harsh penalties for people in same sex relationships and for anyone deemed to be promoting gender rights. Beyond its impact on those directly targeted, it can have far reaching implications for society as a whole, says NAI Associate Akosua Adomako Ampofo.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill revives a 2024 bill passed by parliament but never enacted following multiple legal challenges. The new bill maintains prison sentences of up to three years for people engaging in same-sex relations and expands penalties, including up to ten years in prison, for advocacy activities related to LGBTQI+ rights.

Following a public debate, much of it over social media, and a raft of amendments to the final bill, President John Dramani Mahama withheld his approval, saying the legislation needed further scrutiny. International organisations, rights groups and domestic critics have warned of dire consequences not only for people identifying as LGBTQI+, but also for the wider society if it becomes law.

A blow to rights in general

“If this bill is passed it will serve a blow to rights generally, not just the rights of LGBTQI+ persons,” explains Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, a NAI Associate and Professor Emerita at the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy, University of Ghana.

“One problem is its focus on differences. While no one can be expected to appreciate everyone’s identities or choices, our constitution, and simple human dignity, enjoins us to allow people freedom of association and identity. If you start with minority sexualities, what will be the next difference we will criminalise? Do we move onto religion and religious practice, ethnicity and ethnic customs, or anything that one group is uncomfortable with or claims offends their morals?” she asks.

The bill includes an obligation on all citizens to report LGBTQI+ people to authorities, which Adomako Ampofo argues goes against Ghanaian society’s traditionally tolerant approach to sexual minorities and difference. She argues that a study of history reveals that gender-nonconforming identities and practices existed among many ethnic groups and that customarily, Ghanaians have had a healthy respect for people’s privacy.

Weaponised

The introduction of the first version of the bill in 2023, despite not having been passed, had already led to an uptick in violence and repression in recent years, she adds, based merely on suspicion.

And a law would prove hard to police and easy to weaponise:

“We are not a society that is overtly, publicly affectionate in a sexual sense. There is a lot of touching and holding – women hold hands, men put arms around each other – but normally it’s more familial and platonic. So, on what basis are you going to determine that someone is gay or identifies as queer?” she asks.

“You would have to do it on the basis of suspicion. And once you start that, anyone who doesn’t like their neighbour – or has an issue with someone, for example a court case – can accuse them of being a homosexual merely to settle scores. And we know the rich are less likely to be targeted, while the most vulnerable will become targets. We already know it is happening in poor communities where effeminate-presenting men or masculine-appearing women have been attacked and brutalised. Where will it end?”

Religious teachings

For its supporters, the legislation reflects widely held religious and cultural values and the bill has been strongly supported by influential Christian, Muslim and traditional organisations that frame homosexuality as incompatible with religious teachings and traditional African family values.

It has also been portrayed as fighting back against the imposition of LGBTQI+ rights on the country from abroad, including in the introduction External link. to the bill which refers to Western support for an LGBTQI+ advocacy centre in Accra.

However, there have been dissenting voices. Adomako Ampofo points out that while the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference supports the law, a prominent Ghanaian cleric at the Vatican stated in 2023 that people should not be criminalised simply for their identity.

Others argue that the bill goes far beyond regulating sexual conduct and advocacy and will restrict fundamental rights.

Human Rights Watch has described the bill as draconian, noting that LGBTQI+ people in Ghana already face widespread discrimination, abuse and increasing repression, including arbitrary arrests, the closure of community services, and hostile and misleading media coverage

UNAIDS has warned that criminalisation of gender minorities can undermine public health efforts by discouraging vulnerable groups from seeking healthcare, HIV testing and prevention services.

“If it becomes law, it will obstruct access to life-saving services, undercut social protection, and jeopardize Ghana’s development success,” the organisation’s Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said in a statement. “It will exacerbate fear and hatred, could incite violence against fellow Ghanaian citizens, and will negatively impact on free speech, freedom of movement and freedom of association.”

Constitution

Ernest Ako, a law lecturer at Ghana’s University of Cape Coast and researcher at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland was part of a legal team which challenged the 2024 version of the bill in court. He has also researched the treatment of LGBTQI+ people by authorities in sub-Saharan Africa and says the bill will close the space for human rights defenders and civil society groups supporting them.

Ako expects further legal challenges if the bill is signed into law.

“You cannot pass a bill that offends constitutional principles – free speech, the right to dignity, freedom of association and all those values of the constitution – and expect constitutional and human rights lawyers not to challenge it,” he says.

Some of the most controversial provisions of the bill were modified or removed during parliamentary review, notably those affecting medical professionals, lawyers and journalists. However, the debate in Ghana continues between opponents who question whether those changes go far enough, and supporters who argue that the bill has been watered down beyond recognition.

While there is no timeframe for the bill entering into law, President Mahama is widely expected to approve it. Ghana would then join several other African states to have clamped down on LGBTQI+ rights in recent years, in what some observers see as a global backlash against sexual and gender rights.

Text: Tom Sullivan