I don’t support the LGBTQ+ community but don’t molest or imprison them – Manasseh

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has said that the debate about LGBTQ+ rights should not be left to hardliners – those who think that one is either in support of the community or not.

He stressed that while he doesn’t support the LGBTQ community, he will not want them beaten, molested, or imprisoned for belonging to the community.

He added that the tendency to judge one’s enlightenment or otherwise on whether or not one supports or disapproves of the LGBTQ community is untenable, adding that opposing the community should not mean one is uncivilized.

“The LGBTQ+ debate is difficult to have if you are not a hardliner. There are people whose view is that you either hate the LGBTQ+ or you support them. These hardliners include some members of the LGBTQ+ community, who argue that you’re either for them or against them.

I don’t support any of the variables in the LGBTQ+ movement. I have stated this a number of times. I also dislike the fact that some powerful countries are almost forcing some other countries to accept it as a norm and legalise it.

As I stated in my public lecture at the University of Ghana, if my daughter told me she believes she is a boy trapped in a girl’s body, I would call a psychologist, not a human rights lawyer. And I definitely would not call the police. These are my views I should be free to hold them irrespective of where I find myself.

On the issue of LGBTQ+, not all Americans or British or Canadians support the movement. So it is normal that the majority of Ghanaians don’t support it. Supporting LGBTQ+ should not be the standard rod for measuring civility. People who do not believe in gay or transgender should not be viewed as unenlightened,” explained.

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The debate on the rights of the LGBTQ+ community has come to the fore again following the visit of the Vice President of American and his comments that rights, including LGBTQ rights, ought to be respected.

Read the full piece of Manasseh Azure Awuni below:

YOU CAN BE AGAINST LGBTQ+ BUT STILL…

The LGBTQ+ debate is one that is difficult to have if you are not a hardliner. There are people whose view is that you either hate the LGBTQ+ or you support them. These hardliners include some members of the LGBTQ+ community, who argue that you’re either for them or against them.

I don’t support any of the variables in the LGBTQ+ movement. I have stated this a number of times. I also dislike the fact that some powerful countries are almost forcing some other countries to accept it as a norm and legalise it.

As I stated in my public lecture at the University of Ghana, if my daughter told me she believes she is a boy trapped in a girl’s body, I would call a psychologist, not a human rights lawyer. And I definitely would not call the police. These are my views I should be free to hold them irrespective of where I find myself.

On the issue of LGBTQ+, not all Americans or British or Canadians support the movement. So it is normal that the majority of Ghanaians don’t support it. Supporting LGBTQ+ should not be the standard rod for measuring civility. People who do not believe in gay or transgender should not be viewed as unenlightened.

In the same way, opposing it is not the standard of measuring morality. Those who do not support LGBTQ+ should not expect everyone to hold a hostile position on the subject or against the community.

I don’t support LGBTQ+ activities, but my hardline position started to soften when I encountered Dr. Sulley Ali Gabass in my investigation. I began to appreciate that these are people real human beings. Some of them are good human beings.

I have maintained that I won’t be happy if any of my family members were an LGBTQ+ community member. But I would not want them to be beaten or molested if they were. I would not even want them to be jailed for it.

So, speaking up against attacks on the LGBTQ+ community does not necessarily mean supporting that community. Speaking up against hostile LGBTQ+ legislation does not mean one supports LGBTQ+ activities.

But considering the fact that the powerful LGBTQ+ community appears to be hostile to people who don’t support their cause and some actually suffer for it, it is difficult to have a reasonable debate on the subject.

Whatever the hostilities are, however, it will be dangerous to leave it to the hardliners. Some of the laws go beyond LGBTQ+ to stifle general freedoms such as the free speech of people outside the scope the law intends to regulate.