LGBTQ+ Rights: Second coming?

During the life of the last Parliament, the legal, moral and social issue that occupied the media and polarised the entire country was undoubtedly the LGBTQ+ Bill. 

This was the sponsored by eight parliamentarians, which sought to criminalise LGBTQ+ activities — participation, advocacy and promotion. The bill failed at the last hurdle as the then-President, Nana Akufo-Addo, refused to sign it into law.

When many thought we had seen the back of it, lo and behold, the Speaker of Parliament recently announced that it is one of the bills to be considered in this session of Parliament. I felt a palpable sense of ‘deja vu’ when I heard that.

To further exacerbate my sense of despair, Rev. Ntim Fordjour, whilst fielding questions in a recent interview with the celebrated journalist Kafui Dei, stressed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would be making a grave political miscalculation if President Mahama failed to sign the bill into law, especially after publicly expressing his disapproval of LGBTQ+ activities.

Rev. Ntim F-ordjour was one of the eight parliamentarians who sponsored the abortive LGBTQ+ bill. As a human rights activist, I will give a riposte to these developments, but before that, a little comment on the optimism of Ntim Fordjour in the smooth sailing of the bill through Parliament.

For him, passing through the gamut of parliamentary procedures up to the Presidential assent is a given — very interesting, but scary.

What scares me most is his confidence that the bill will nonchalantly sail through, even though it offends the constitutional rights of LGBTQ+ people.

This confidence in the easy passage of the bill is anchored on two factors: religious and cultural.

Absurdity

I have written on the absurdity of using the Bible as the basis of suppressing LGBTQ+ rights (see ‘The Bible and LGBTQ+ Rights, Daily Graphic, April 24, 2025); however, a few pointers will suffice here.

That article primarily sought to show how the picking of isolated passages from the Bible as the basis for homophobia is not only absurd but also incoherent.

Drawing largely on hermeneutics — the art of biblical interpretation — we advocated the holistic interpretation of the Bible, exploring the linguistic, historical and cultural context for a fuller meaning.

It is quite worrying for religion to be used as a bludgeoning tool against so-called ‘sexual deviants’.

It is deeply regrettable as it is against the basic tenets of Christianity.

If Christ came for the sinners, then it becomes ‘ideologically’ incoherent to outlaw and discriminate against LGBTQ+ people if we are to accept their designation as ‘sinners’ (which we do not accept or countenance).

The speed at which homophobia has gained ground in Ghana is frightening. In the last decade, the country has transitioned from indifference towards LGBTQ+ people to outright hostility.

This, against the backdrop of having a Constitution that opposes discrimination of all sorts — gender, religion, thought, ethnicity, etc.

Ghana is a secular state, populated with multi-ethnic and multi-faith people, including traditionalists and atheists, therefore, it is unfair to use religion as a basis for legislation.

As a Catholic, I wholeheartedly support the views of the late Pope Francis and, closer to home, our own Cardinal Turkson, regarding homosexuality – it is wrong to criminalise it.

Evidence

Another basis for gay bashing is the cultural argument that the practice is ‘unAfrican’.

That homosexuality is ‘unAfrican’ has long been debunked as anthropologists have produced a plethora of evidence recording the practice in many societies in pre-colonial Africa.

For centuries, Africans have accommodated non-conformity and diversity in African culture.

The irony is that the prevailing wave of homophobia among Africans was introduced by missionaries/colonialists who condemned many traditional practices, homosexuality included, as pagan, primitive and barbaric.

As it has been argued, it is puzzling how African Christians question the ‘Africanness’ of homosexuality, without questioning the ‘Africanness’ of homophobia, which was brought to Africa by Western missionaries.

The fact that the colonialists enacted laws against homosexuality, some of which still stand in our Criminal Code, is testimony to its ancient foundations.

The term in vernacular “Kojo basia” is an allusion to homosexuality.

If we have to stick to our cultural roots, why is polygamy frowned upon by the church when it is permitted in our culture?

The writer is a lawyer.
E-mail: georgebshaw1@gmail.com