About 80% of Ghanaians are not interested in ‘LGBTQI+ lifestyle’ – Bedzrah
One of the legislators sponsoring the Proper Human Sexual Rights And Ghanaian Family Values Bill, Emmanuel Bedzrah, says a large number of the Ghanaian populace do not accept same-sex marriage and LGBTQI+ activities.
The MP for Ho West said the Ghanaian society abhors such acts in any form, hence the opposition to lesbian and gay activities.
“We took into consideration Ghanaians view, a research conducted by the Center For Democratic Development(CDD) in 2018 showed that about 80% of Ghanaians were not in favour of gay marriages and LGBTQI+ programming in the country and do not accept LGBTQI+ lifestyle,” he indicated.
“Ghanaians’ disinterest in LGBTQI+ activities propelled us to legislate this bill to protect our culture and values in the Ghanaian society”.
An afrobarometer survey conducted by CDD-Ghana revealed that 93% of Ghanaians were highly intolerant to people involved in same-sex relationships.
Mr Bedzrah said this revelation served as the basis for promoting the bill sponsored by seven members of Parliament.
The lawmaker underscored that the bill was still undergoing amendments with inputs and considerations from human rights groups such as the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice(CHRAJ).
“We have done some amendments which are yet to go to the amendment stage, and as soon as they go through the consideration stage, these amendments will be effected. Clause 17 speaks on the various forms of prohibition of LGBTQI, in which we’ve noticed that, for instance, if we talk of intersex, which is a natural form of deformity, we cannot say you have two sexual organs(male and female), so you should be punished for that, so we’ve taken that out so there is no intersex in our bill”.
On the punishment regime, he said, “We have reduced the sentence from 5 to 3 years and from 10 to 5 years if somebody indulges in an activity”.
His comments come on the back of the US Ambassador to Ghana’s claim that the anti-LGBTQ+ bill will make it difficult for her to sell Ghana as an investment and trade destination.
Also, the ambassador said the legislation would reduce forex inflows, cut into Ghana’s bottom line, and reduce the workforce options that will impact businesses.
On the back of this, the MP said Ghana can always do business with other countries; therefore, he is not concerned about the effect on revenues.
Mr Bedzrah indicated that the bill has attracted over 200 memos from around the world since its first reading in Parliament.
He said efforts had been channelled into addressing all concerns that came to the fore of the committee.
He added, “We have amended some part of the bill that corresponds with our thinking”.
According to the MP, the bill has undergone a second reading pending consideration by Parliament.
The bill will criminalize not just the activity but its promotion, advocacy, and funding for the act.
It will become criminal for anyone to produce any promotional material that supports LGBTQ+, TV/radio stations to show content that supports the cause, any individual or body to support it.
The bill has recently generated public discussion, with some religious groups calling for its passage while other human rights advocates and academic groups have advocated against the bill.
The ‘Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021’ was submitted to Parliament in June 2021.
If passed into law, it would criminalize LGBTQ+ activities and its advocates and jail offenders.
Sponsors of the bill have insisted the introduction is not to criminalize anyone but to serve as a reformative tool for the courts to aid individuals in breaking free from such practice.