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AFTER Ghana failed, amid legal challenges, to get an anti-LGBTQ+ bill ratified by the the country’s then President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2024, the Rev John Ntim Fordjour, MP, above, sponsored a similar bill — the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2025 which was passed on May 29.

According to Graphic Online, Fourjour, together with a clot of Christian and Muslim co-sponsors, insisted that the country was united in support of the passage of the bill as it seeks to uphold “the morality, culture, traditions and customs of Ghanaians.”

They said that both Ghanaians and the Constitution recognise the family unit as comprising a male and a female who are joined in marriage and have procreated children.

The sponsors were further of the view that over the years the country has come under significant pressure from globalisation and foreign cultures to accept practices such as LGBTQ+ activities which were inconsistent with Ghanaian family values and sexual norms.

True, there has been considerable pressure on Ghana and other African nations, but not to promote tolerance. Quite the opposite in fact.

In 2023, The Dial reported that, since 2007, US-based right-wing Christian groups have spent more than $280 million fighting gay and abortion rights abroad. More than $50 million went toward courting African politicians and religious leaders and funding programmess that oppose sexual and reproductive rights throughout the continent. Aside from lobbying politicians to pass anti-homosexuality laws, groups such as Heartbeat International have established “pregnancy crisis centers” in South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria to promote anti-abortion ideology. 

Now these efforts may be bearing fruit: The Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Ghana’s Parliament is currently reviewing what has been described as the most homophobic bill in the world, the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill. The bill seeks to criminalize, among other things, intersex and asexual individuals, public displays of affection between persons of the same gender, cross-dressing, the sale and ownership of sex toys, and even the promotion of LGBTQ ‘sympathy.’ Queer individuals could spend five years in jail, while gay rights advocates could face up to 10 years. An eight-member bipartisan group of parliamentarians is sponsoring the bill, which was first introduced to the House in March 2021. 

The Dial also pointed out that Ghana has developed a powerful charismatic movement which has had a decades-long relationship with US evangelical organisations, which in turn have played a significant role in shaping the perceptions of gender, sexuality and morality in Ghana.

The charismatic movement emphasizes the importance of traditional norms regarding sexual purity and gender, often tying these values to economic prosperity. Its members have regularly issued statements warning the public against same-sex marriage.

The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) expressed “their gratitude and joy” following the passage of the original bill. “This serves as an example of the general popularity of the new law in both Christian and Muslim quarters,” wrote Melanie Nathan in 2024.

It should be pointed out that, when in office the god-besotted President Akufo-Addo revealed plans to build a a $100-million national cathedral. He said in 2023:

Ghanaians are active Christians, not people who say they are Christians and do nothing about it.

Work had begun on this vanity project but it appears to have stalled.

The BBC said the current President John Mahama, above, indicated he would support the bill’s passage, saying shortly after he took office that

I believe in the principles and values that only two genders exist – man and woman – and that marriage is between a man and a woman.

If ratified by Mahama, the law will be used against anyone identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer Such people will punished by up to three years’ imprisonment. The bill also introduces a “duty to report” prohibited acts to police.

Anyone who identifies as an “ally”, a general term for a supporter of LGBTQ+ people, could also face a prison sentence.

If you support the Pink Triangle Trust’s mission to promote humanism, fight bigotry and fund LGBTQ+ groups, you can make a donation below. If you wish to report any typos or errors, please email freethinkered@aol.com.