It’s okay to be gay or lesbian – Lord Paper

Ghanaian hiplife artiste Lord Paper believes people’s sexual preference should not be a national concern.

According to him, the choice to be in homosexual or heterosexual relationships should be the prerogative of the individual.

“Someone’s sexuality is not my problem. I can’t decide for anyone how they should behave in their sexual life. It doesn’t really bother me” he said.

The anti-gay bill, which was first read in parliament on August 2, 2021, is spearheaded by eight legislators: MP for Ningo-Prampram Sam George, Ho West MP Emmanuel Bedzrah, MP for Kpando Della Adjoa Sowah, and John Ntim Fordjour, the MP for Assin South.

Discussions about LGBTQ+ rights in Ghana touch on sensitive chords: culture and religion. Crusaders behind the bill base their arguments on the belief that LGBTQI+ activities are alien to the country’s cultural norms and values and are also frowned upon by all major religious groups in Ghana.

The Christian Council of Ghana – an umbrella body of Christian churches in Ghana – has declared its support to the bill. “The council wishes to state unequivocally that it supports the bill and prays that it will see the light today… Let us protect the good family system that we have inherited from our forebears,” it said in an official statement.

The Office of the National Chief Imam also supports the bill stating, “homosexuality is a deviant behavior totally unacceptable in Islam. Although our religion allows us the latitude to ponder and reconsider some issues, homosexuality is certainly not one of them”.

The bill seeks to criminalize LGBTQI+ advocacy and its practice for at least five years.

However, an 18-member group campaigning against the bill’s passage argues that “the bill violates all the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution”, adding that when passed into law, it would send Ghana to the dark ages of lawlessness.

But according to the musician“It’s okay to be a gay or lesbian. If they (Parliamentarians) accept that we should practice it, it doesn’t concern me. I don’t have the right to choose someone’s sexual preference that notwithstanding, I have friends who are gays.”

The Awuramahit maker, Takyi-Frimpong, revealed that” so far as  LGBTQ+ does not pose physical harm to me, I have no problem with it” he told Kumase-based Akoma FM.