Ghana’s anti-gay law would intensify hate and abuse against LGBT community

Until now, there were no explicit laws in Ghana’s Criminal Offenses Act and 1992 Constitutions that were against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, however, attacks on persons from the community were regular and recurrent.

A report by Human Rights Watch Ghana reveals that in October 2023, personnel of the Ghana Police Service stopped a 30-year-old who was carrying sex toys at a checkpoint, detained them, and threatened them with jail time.

Unfortunately, the police ended up charging a bribe of 500gh to be paid by their victims before they let them off the hook.

In January 2024, another victim identified as Desmond Asamoah Brian was lured to a private space by persons who pretended to be gay and lynched him. The issue was recorded by Rightify Ghana.

In September, school authorities dismissed a 17-year-old student over allegations that he was gay from a boys’ boarding school in Accra, activists told Human Rights Watch. According to one activist, their investigations revealed other forms of homophobic acts against the child, including a death threat, because he appeared effeminate.

A petition organized by local activists was sent to the district and regional education offices, and the student was allowed to return to register for the senior school certificate examination.

It is worth noting that these attacks were recorded in a period when Ghana did not have active laws that empowered others to call for the arrest of persons who were suspected to be members of the LGBTQ community.

For a split-second, imagine the havoc that would be wrecked and the human rights abuses that persons who support and are within the LGBTQ community would suffer when Ghana’s Anti-Gay bill is rolled out in full force.

So say no to discrimination, especially discrimination based on sexual orientation, and say Yes to love for all.