Parliament has passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, widely known as the anti-LGBTQ bill, making it the second time the legislative house has passed a bill seeking to criminalise LGBTQ activities in Ghana.
The new legislation was passed with new amendments that grant exemptions to individuals and institutions who, in their line of work, may offer services to LGBTQ persons.
Under the amendments, legal advice or legal representation to persons identified as LGBTQ will not be subject to punishment. The bill also exempts journalists and media organisations reporting on LGBTQ-related issues or current affairs in the course of their professional duties.
In addition, medical professionals, including those providing surgical, psychological, and counselling services to LGBTQ persons, will not be penalised under the law.
But Minority MPs have criticised these new additions, saying it would be used as a pretext to promote LGBTQ activities. They also say the current administration has changed clauses in the bill to make it moderate for President John Mahama to eventually sign it into law.
“Mr. Speaker, we have a bill before us. A bill which was passed by this House. A bill which the House transmitted to Akufo-Addo to assent. The bill ends or dies with the 8th Parliament. The reintroduction of the bill now sees 31 different amendments, which suggest that the bill we wanted Akufo-Addo to sign is not the same bill we are discussing to pass,” said Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, Minority MP for Bosome-Freho during debates on the floor of the House before the vote for the passage of the bill.
Trajectory of Anti-LGBTQ Bill
Originally introduced in June 2021 by a bipartisan group of Members of Parliament led by Ningo-Prampram MP Sam George, the anti-gay bill sought to criminalise same-sex sexual relations, LGBTQ advocacy, funding and related activities.
In the 8th Parliament, the bill had undergone several rounds of extensive public hearings involving religious bodies, traditional authorities, legal experts, civil society organisations and human rights groups.
The hearings sparked widespread public debate, with supporters arguing that the bill was necessary to protect Ghanaian cultural and family values, while opponents described it as unconstitutional and discriminatory.
It was subsequently passed in March 2024. But former President Akufo-Addo declined to sign the legislation into law due to legal challenges against the bill.