Jail terms could potentially worsen homosexual activities - Catholic Bishops warn

Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, has expressed worry about portions of the recently passed Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) Bill.

He specifically pointed out the provision under the Bill, which prescribes jail terms for individuals based on their sexual orientation.

The Bill, as passed by parliament, currently proscribes LGBT+ activities and criminalises their promotion, advocacy and funding.

Persons caught in these acts would be subjected to six months to a three-year jail term, with promoters and sponsors facing a three to five-year jail term.

Reverend Gyamfi reiterated the long-held position by the Catholic Bishops that incarceration will not eradicate homosexuality but potentially worsen it.

He told Accra-based Citi FM (February 29) that the church, despite their reservation, supported the Bill.

He cited the instance of jailing homosexuals and sending them to typically crowded prisons where they could potentially spread the orientation or have a field day practising the proscribed act.

"We think that in the case of this particular law and the way it is being implemented, being placed in prison as the punishment that they have chosen is not going to solve the problem," he cautioned.

He added that the fact that they would be released after serving time then comes with the risk of continuing where they left off.

"And then they practice this (in prisons) and come out as more experts at it than when you sent them there; then you release them back into society. So, what is going to happen?

"That is why we were concerned about a punishment that will correct them, that will reform them. So if the government is going this way or if the parliament is going this way, that is why we are suggesting that while in prison, they should add more of the corrective and reformative measures," he stated.

The Bill would now require presidential assent to come into force.

TWI NEWS

SARA