LGBTQ+: In my family, marriage must strictly be between man and woman - Opanyin Agyekum

Professor Kofi Agyekum, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, has threatened to oppose any member of his family who wishes to be identified as gay or lesbian.

Opanyin Agyekum claims that his moral upbringing and character attributes stand in opposition to the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) community and that that state of being will not be permitted in his home.

“For me, I have said it here before that for my household, my daughter, my niece, my grandchild; if you want to marry and you are a man come with a woman, if you are a woman come with a man, but if you are a man and you dare to bring a fellow man, both of you will go back,” he said.

Speaking during a panel discussion on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo programme on April 4, 2023, he went on to say that it would be in the country's best interest for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to state his position on the controversial LGBTQ+ to the people of Ghana since many Ghanaians are urging him to do so.

Professor Agyekum further argued that the president was careful with his words during a joint press conference with American Vice President Kamala Harris because his response to a question from a New York Times reporter was more of a diplomatic response than an expression of the president's true stance on the subject matter.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the anti-LGBTQI bill currently before parliament had been modified.

According to the president, the Chairman of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, informed him of the modification during a meeting.

Akufo-Addo further stated that even if the bill is passed, it will still have to be ratified by him.

He made these remarks while addressing the press at the Jubilee House together with the Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris, on Monday, March 27, 2023, adding that the modification of the bill was after the intervention of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame.

That claim of a watered-down version of the Bill has been rejected by Sam Nartey George, one of the dozen MPs that sponsored the Bill.

Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:

AM/SARA