Ghana's parliament passes a bill criminalizing the promotion of LGBTQ activities

Speaker of Ghana Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin speaks at the Parliament House in Accra, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)

ACCRA, Ghana — Ghana ’s parliament passed a bill Friday that would impose prison terms of up to 10 years for people who promote LGBTQ activities, reviving legislation that has long been pushed by religious groups in the West African country but condemned by human rights advocates.

The bill, which is expected to be signed into law by President John Dramani Mahama, also would impose prison terms of three years for people who engage in LGBTQ acts.

An earlier version of the legislation passed in 2024 but was never signed into law by then-President Nana Akufo-Addo, but activists and church groups have continued to push for a version of the bill and Mahama has indicated he will support it.

Ghana is joining a growing list of African countries enacting laws proscribing homosexuality. Such laws enjoy popular support in many conservative African countries despite an international outcry.

The legislation bans “promoting, sponsoring or advocating” LGBTQ acts, and the funding of LGBTQ groups and activities. It also provides for a five-year prison term for someone who runs a brothel for prohibited sexual activity.

Supporters of the bill say it protects what they describe as Ghanaian family values and cultural norms, while critics say it violates constitutional rights and could encourage discrimination and abuse against sexual minorities.

Human Rights Watch condemned the bill and urged Ghana’s government to “uphold the international legal protections that guarantee every Ghanaian the rights to equality, nondiscrimination, freedom of expression, and privacy.”

Same-sex sexual relations are already criminalized in Ghana under an existing colonial-era law that prohibits what it describes as “unnatural carnal knowledge.” However, the proposed law expands those restrictions significantly by criminalizing advocacy, support and related activities connected to LGBTQ acts.

When the previous bill passed in 2024, Ghana’s Finance Ministry warned that its enactment could jeopardize billions of dollars in international financing and support from development partners.

More than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries have laws that criminalize same-sex sexual acts. Some of the laws carry lenghty jail terms of more than 10 years while the punishment is the death penalty for countries like Somalia, Uganda and Mauritania.

Edward Acquah, The Associated Press