I hope Ghana can accept homosexuality in the next 10 years – US Ambassador

A society where gays, lesbians can move around, freely express themselves, have their weddings in churches and wherever without any discrimination, opposition and or attacks; this, is the expectation or rather hope of US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson for Ghana in a matter of 10 years.

Touching on the subject of homosexuality on the ’21 Minutes with KKB’ show, US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson said that though it was a tough subject of discussion and was met with a lot of opposition initially in the United States, people, leaders got to accept and eventually embrace the practice with time after better appreciating the issues and science.

He believes Ghana will get to that point eventually where they better appreciate the subject, understand the sciences surrounding it and accept the fact that homosexuality is not a choice of lifestyle as many perceive; it on the contrary, is scientific, people are born as such.

“This is a long process and it was a long process in my country. Homosexual marriage has only become law in recent years and prior to that when I was growing up, nobody talked about homosexuality. Everyone who was gay suffered enormous discrimination and that has changed in the United States because people have a better understanding of the science and issues. I think that as Ghanaians gain a greater understanding of the science and issues, they’ll also be very tolerant because this is a very tolerant country and this is one area where Ghana’s tolerance seems very limited”.

‘Yes’, was his response to the question of whether his hope is that Ghanaians accept homosexuality in the next 10 years.

Regardless of his belief, Mr. Jackson maintained that legalization of the practice is not as vital and significant to the American society as the guarantee of equal rights for all citizens with the same-sex orientation in the country such that no such individual or group of persons suffers violence and or discrimination as a result of their lifestyle.



“We are not asking that homosexuality be legalized, I want to be firm about that, I hope that within the next decade or so that every Ghanaian, regardless his sexual orientation will enjoy the same rights and be treated the same way”, he stated.