The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram and a lead advocate for the anti-LGBTQ+ bill in Parliament, Mr. Sam Nartey George, has slammed the US Embassy in Ghana over its alleged LGBTQ+ promotion Tweet.
On Monday, 27 June 2022, the US Embassy in Ghana tweeted that they condemn violence and discrimination against homosexuals around the world and are also working to protect fundamental human rights of everyone.
“The US is committed to ending violence, discrimination, and stigma against LGBTQI+ persons and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms for all,” the US Embassy in Ghana posted on their official Twitter handle.
In reaction, the Ningo Prampram legislator stated, “Ghana is also committed to ending senseless gun violence anywhere and everywhere in the world. We are committed to seeing school kids go to school without their parents scared of receiving calls of a school shooting involving military-grade weapons.”
He ended with the hashtag, #EndGunViolenceEverywhere.
Ghana is also committed to ending senseless gun violence anywhere and everywhere in the world. We are committed to seeing school kids go to school without their parents scared of receiving calls of a school shooting involving military grade weapons. #EndGunViolenceEverywhere. https://t.co/GSLvDVcWTZ
— Sam 'Dzata' George (@samgeorgegh) June 27, 2022
In July 2021, social media platform Twitter deleted a post by Ningo Prampram MP Sam George on LGBTQI criminalisation in Ghana after it ruled that the views violated its policy.
The MP had posted on July 24 that “I have been overwhelmed by the massive show of support even here on a ‘liberal’ platform like Twitter for our bill on the LGBTQ+ menace.
“Homosexuality is not a HUMAN RIGHT. It is a sexual preference. Preferences are not absolute or unregulated. We shall pass this bill through.”
The social media platform did not provide details for the removal of the post.
However, its policy on hateful conduct states:
“You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories”.
Last Saturday, the lawmaker posted a screenshot of a communication from Twitter which said a Tweet of his had been reported but that the company was taking no action because “it is not subject to removal under Twitter rules.”
Sam George is leading an eight-member Private Members’ Bill which is titled: “The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values, Bill 2021.”
Among other things, the bill criminalises homosexuality.
The controversial bill holds severe punitive ramifications for those who are accused of belonging to the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Members and advocates of the community could be sentenced to 10-year imprisonment.
The bill was presented to the Speaker of Parliament a few weeks ago and is yet to be laid before the house for first reading after which the Speaker would refer the legislative proposal to a committee.
But the bill was leaked to the general public at the end of last week, provoking frantic debates on radio and on social media platforms.
Mr George’s post attracted a response from a British politician, Seb Dance, who engaged in a heated exchange on the issue of same-sex relationships and the wider topic of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, Queer, LGBTQ+.