Nobody should go to jail because he or she is gay or lesbian – Afenyo-Markin

The Deputy Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Efutu, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has thrown his support behind Cardinal Peter Turkson's assertion that it is wrong for Ghana to criminalise LGBTQI activities.

According to Afenyo-Markin, even though he frowns on LGBTI activities as a Catholic, he supports the church's view that no person should be jailed because they engage in these activities.

The MP, who made these remarks in an interview with TV3 on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, indicated that Cardinal Turkson said nothing wrong in his interview with the British state broadcaster, BBC.

“Personally, I don’t think that somebody claiming to be a lesbian or gay should go to jail by virtue of that. That is the opinion of the Catholic Church, I’m a Catholic, second deputy speaker here is also a catholic, we are Catholics.

“And the law is very clear and I don’t think that I should hold a contrary view to what the church has said. The Church says that by the culture of Africans, we are against (LGBTQI activities),” he said.

“Personally, I don’t think that somebody claiming to be a lesbian or gay should go to jail by virtue of that,” he reiterated.

Background:

In the interview on BBC’s HARDtalk programme, Cardinal Turkson stated that his position on Ghana’s anti-LGBTQI bill, which has never changed, is that homosexuality is not a crime and therefore should not be criminalised as the bill seeks to do.

He noted that for something to be criminalised, there has to be an element of a crime – it must be an offence against somebody.

"LGBT people may not be criminalised because they've committed no crime… It's time to begin education, to help people understand what this reality, this phenomenon is. We need a lot of education to get people to... make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime," the cardinal explained.

This section of his interview is what many people are hammering on, leaving the other important points he made including the church's stands on same-sex marriage and attempts by the West to force Ghana to accept LGBTQI activities.

Cardinal Peter Turkson stated categorically that the Catholic Church considers same-sex relationships "objectively sinful" and would not recognise same-sex marriage.

He also pointed out that the perception that Western countries are forcing Ghana to accept LGBTQI activities by tying them to aid and trade agreements is what forced Ghana's Parliament to consider a legislation against LGBTI activities.

Watch videos of the remarks by Cardinal Turkson and the MP below:

I support the non-criminalization of LGBTQ persons; the position of the Catholic Church is clear on it - Alexander Afenyo Markin, Deputy Majority Leader#3NewsGH pic.twitter.com/fiiCUQDU05

— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) November 28, 2023