{"id":22197,"date":"2024-02-28T11:45:31","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T16:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/ghana-passes-bill-making-identifying-as-lgbtq-illegal\/28\/02\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-02-28T11:45:31","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T16:45:31","slug":"ghana-passes-bill-making-identifying-as-lgbtq-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/ghana-passes-bill-making-identifying-as-lgbtq-illegal\/28\/02\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana passes bill making identifying as LGBTQ+ illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ghana’s parliament has passed a tough new bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+.<\/p>\n

It also imposes a maximum five-year jail term for forming or funding LGBTQ+ groups.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers heckled down attempts to replace prison sentences with community service and counselling.<\/p>\n

It is the latest sign of growing opposition to LGBTQ+ rights in the conservative West African nation.<\/p>\n

The bill, which had the backing of Ghana’s two major political parties, will come into effect only if President Nana Akufo-Addo<\/a><\/span><\/span> signs it into law.<\/p>\n

He previously said that he would do so if the majority of Ghanaians want him to.<\/p>\n

Gay sex is already against the law in Ghana – it carries a three-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n

Last month Amnesty International<\/a> warned that the bill “poses significant threats to the fundamental rights and freedoms” of LGBTQ+ people.<\/p>\n

Activists fear there will now be witch-hunts against members of the LGBTQ+ community and those who campaign for their rights, and say some will have to go into hiding.<\/p>\n

The bill proposes a jail term of up to 10 years for anyone involved in LGBTQ+ advocacy campaigns aimed at children<\/p>\n

It also encourages the public to report members of the LGBTQ+ community to authorities for “necessary action”.<\/p>\n

MPs said the bill was drafted in response to the opening of Ghana’s first LGBTQ+ community centre in the capital, Accra, in January 2021.<\/p>\n

Police shut the centre following public protests, and pressure from religious bodies and traditional leaders in the largely Christian nation.<\/p>\n

At the time, the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council said in a joint statement that being LGBTQ+ was “alien to the Ghanaian culture and family value system and, as such, the citizens of this nation cannot accept it”.<\/p>\n

The bill approved by lawmakers is a watered-down version of an earlier draft – for instance, jail terms have been shortened and a controversial clause on conversion therapy has been removed.<\/p>\n

During the days-long debate, the deputy parliamentary leader of the governing party, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, suggested further changes.<\/p>\n

He said lawmakers should decide, via a secret ballot, whether people convicted of being members of the LGBTQ+ community should be imprisoned by the courts or ordered to do community service and undergo counselling.<\/p>\n

However, he was heckled into submission by lawmakers who supported prison sentences.<\/p>\n

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Ghana’s parliament has passed a tough new bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of