Anti-LGBTQI Bill: Imprisoning people who engage in gay sex does not make sense — Franklin Cudjoe

Franklin Cudjoe, president of IMANI Africa, says the aspect of the anti-LGBTQI+ Bill seeking to imprison persons who engage in gay sex “does not make sense”.

He said there were parts of the Bill which were logical, but it may not be appropriate to sentence someone “simply because the person professes to be gay”.

Cudjoe was making a contribution to Citi FM’s “Big Issues” on the legal and financial implications of the anti-LGBT+ Bill, which has yet to receive presidential assent.

“I don’t think it is sensible to imprison anyone whom we believe is gay unless, of course, that person must have raped or unduly influenced other people, especially minors, and you’ve found them…

“But how are you going to police people who are doing the act in their bedrooms? I think the law was limited in terms of sensible thinking and analysis in that regard,” he stated.

The Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill (anti-LGBTQ bill) was passed by Parliament on Wednesday, February 28, 2024. It prohibits, among other things, LGBTQI activities and imposes a jail term of up to five years on offenders.

Some private citizens, however, have filed a suit, asking the Supreme Court to restrain President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo from assenting to the Bill.

President Akufo-Addo, in a recent address, said the Bill was yet to arrive at his desk.

Cudjoe, in his submission, agreed that some people were born feminine or masculine in nature and had been ‘tolerated’ over the years but kicked against the imposition of a jail term.

“…So you say this person is engaged in homosexuality, and you paraded them through the courts, and you sentence them to three, four, five years, and you think they will be reformed after they come out of jail? That is not a sensible law,” he stated.

The IMANI Boss also disagreed with the supposed financial implications of the anti-LGBTQI Bill suggested by the Ministry of Finance recently.

Economist Dr Patrick Asuming said the ‘financial threat’ from some members of the international community regarding the passage of the anti-LGBTQI Bill should “serve as a warning” to managers of the economy to be “less dependent” on foreign financial support.

Touching on other aspects of the anti-LGBTQ Bill, Alexander Abban, a Former Member of Parliament for Gomoa West, said lawmakers needed to restrict advocacy on LGBTQI activities as that may encourage other people to “experiment” the unorthodox act.

He also believed the lawsuit seeking to prevent the president from assenting to the anti-LGBTQI Bill was “dead on arrival”.