Ghana’s LGBTQ+ community faces an impossible choice in next month’s general elections after the leading presidential candidates all promised to crack down on gay rights to tap into widespread anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in the country.
One of the first tasks the winner of the December 7 vote may face is to sign into law or veto a bill parliament passed earlier this year that includes jail time for anyone identifying as LGBTQ+.
The Supreme Court is due to rule on the bill’s constitutionality on December 18 after weighing legal challenges against it.
The ruling party candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia, has repeatedly vowed to sign the bill.
While his main challenger, former president John Dramani Mahama, has not explicitly said whether he will approve it, he has argued that Ghana must strengthen laws against LGBTQ+ activities and persons, accusing the West of promoting homosexuality in the West African nation.
“These are people who are actually supposed to protect me. My vote and the rest of the community’s will put them in a position of leadership,” Abena told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “I feel like I do not belong.”
Ghana already criminalizes gay sex, but the proposed law broadens what counts as illegal activity and increases penalties, which human rights groups say will worsen the persecution of sexual and gender minorities.
The bill stipulates up to five years in prison for same-sex activities, allows for the prosecution of those who identify as non-binary and punishes advocacy work, including funding programs for sexual minorities.
It also includes prison terms for friends, family members and property owners who fail to report anyone perceived or identified as LGBTQ+.
“The bill seeks to divide me and my family,” Abena said. “Anybody who knows (my identity)within the family and does not report (me and)someone else does … could also go to jail.”
‘Public psyche’
The long-running debate around the bill, first introduced in 2021, has exacerbated already prevalent anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes in the religiously conservative country. An Afrobarometer survey published in 2021showed just 7% of the public in Ghana expresses tolerance for same-sex relationships.
In October, religious groups took to the streets to ask for the immediate passage of the bill. Church leaders have called same-sex acts “immoral” and against “Christianity, the Ghanaian tradition and culture.”
“Even though it has not become law, it has seeped into the psyche of the public, which is basically homophobic, in the sense that they want the passage of the bill, and there have been increases in the level of attacks and intimidation against LGBTQ persons,” said Michael Akagbor, the senior officer on human rights at the Centre for Democracy and Development Ghana.
Akagbor also said the contest between political parties vying for the most anti-LGBTQ+ label had come to a draw, effectively making it a “non-election issue.”
But other advocates warn that LGBTQ+ individuals risk increased attacks in an already hostile environment and they and their supporters could face greater discrimination if the law passes.
The law’s provision criminalizing friends and family who do not report on their loved ones “has already forced many LGBTQ individuals into hiding(and)led to loss of employment, housing and even educational opportunities,” said Hans Burinyuy, director of communications at LGBT+ Rights Ghana.
“If the bill becomes law, professional options for openly LGBTQ-friendly educators and advocates like me may narrow, especially if more institutions adopt rigid stances in response,” Burinyuy told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“For me, maintaining personal safety has now involved more caution regarding who I interact with and what information I disclose,” he said.
International response
The European Union called the passage of the bill in February “profoundly disturbing,” pointing out that it violated Ghana’s constitution and its international human rights commitments.
“There is also the issue of losing the donor funding if the country goes on with the bill, and that has already been communicated by the Ministry of Finance to the Ghanaian populace,” said Akagbor.
The Supreme Court is considering legal petitions that parliament failed to comply with procedural issues when passing the bill, including failure to assess the economic implications of the law. The court can either send it back to parliament for amendment, allow it to be passed onto the president for assent, or strike it out.
For Abena, the court decision will come too late to help her decide how to cast her ballot in the general election.
“I feel the country isn’t safe for people like me if the first, second and third options are all using the LGBT bill to score more points,” she said. “When they come into power, they are going to make sure that these persons are criminalized.”
