Stiffen laws against LGBTQ+ – Parliament

Parliament on Friday March 5, 2021 declared its position on the Lesbianism, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) issue which instigated discussions in the public in the last few weeks.

During the period when there were heated debates and outrage about the activities of the LGBTQI community in the country, individuals and groups from various backgrounds called on Government and Parliament to among other things state their position on the matter and advised that resist every influence to legalize the practice.

Parliament, following President Akufo-Addo’s declaration that same sex marriage is illegal and would not be permitted under his government, called for the strengthening of laws on LGBTQI activities to outrightly ban the practice without loopholes for future exploitations.

Reverend John Ntim Fordjour (NPP) and Samuel Nartey George (NDC), who presented their statements on behalf of their respective parties in opposition to the activities of homosexuals, indicated that they will pursue it under the Private Member’s Bill.

Though the Members of Parliament (MP) called for the law to be explicit on the said activities and to criminalize them, some argued that the natural rights of the offenders should be protected.

MP for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini said on the floor that it would be wrong for persons perceived to be or caught engaging in the act to be physically assaulted. He said “The rights of an armed robber who is caught and arrested is protected. Same way, the rights of such people should be protected. They must not be lynched or bodily harmed.”

He further argued that sometimes in certain circumstances, there are mistaken identities which result in infringement of rights of innocent individuals even leading to death, for which reason they should be protected.

MP for Effiduase-Asokore Consituency, Frank Boakye Agyen, on the other hand argued that a number of the individuals have homonal imbalances which tends to influence their decision to gravitate towards the practices.

He said: “There are some boys with female homones more than the male homones and same way females with more male homones. So they tend to have interest in their kinds, people who will accept them.”

He therefore called for Government’s intervention to psychologically help families with such problems to reduce its prevalence.