How the BBC, other international media reported the passage of Ghana's anti-gay bill

Ghana’s Parliament on Friday, May 29, 2026, passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, popularly known as the anti-gay bill.

This is the second time the bill has been passed by the House. The bill was first passed in 2024, but it was not acted upon by then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo before the expiration of the 8th Parliament.

It now requires the assent of President John Dramani Mahama to become law, criminalising homosexual activities.

As expected, the passage of the bill made headlines in major international news outlets.

The Crimes and the Jail Terms: Details of new anti-gay bill passed by Parliament

Here is how some international media houses reported the passage of the bill

BBC

Ghana's parliament passes anti-LGBTQ+ bill

The parliament in Ghana has approved a new bill criminalising homosexuality and the promotion of LGBTQ+ activities.

It proposes that identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer be punished by up to three years' imprisonment. The bill also introduces a "duty to report" prohibited acts to police.

Religious leaders have pressured President John Dramani Mahama, who still needs to ratify the legislation, to strengthen anti-gay laws since he came to power last year.

The ban has been sharply criticised by international organisations, including Human Rights Watch, which said it placed LGBTQ+ peoples' lives at risk while also "encouraging citizens to surveil and denounce one another".

Same-sex relationships have been banned in Ghana under laws dating from the British colonial era.

In an address to parliament, the bill's sponsor Reverend John Ntim Fordjour said it would protect Ghanaian family and cultural values.

He said the new bans would make existing laws "more robust, more encompassing and more stringent in dealing with the practices of LGBTQI".

Anyone who identifies as an "ally", a general term for a supporter of LGBTQ+ people, could also face a prison sentence.

Exemptions were included for legal, media and healthcare professionals who report on LGBTQ+ issues or provide medical treatment or other services for gay people.

Human Rights Watch recommended the bill be abandoned in a formal submission to the constitutional and legal affairs committee scrutinising the legislation in the capital, Accra.

Ghana passed a similar bill in 2024 but it did not become law after former President Akufo-Addo failed to sign it amid legal challenges.

The current President Mahama has indicated he would support the bill's passage, saying shortly after he took office that "I believe in the principles and values that only two genders exist – man and woman - and that marriage is between a man and a woman."

Several African countries have cracked down on LGBTQ+ rights in recent years.

Senegal's parliament approved similar legislation in March prescribing a maximum prison term of 10 years for sexual acts by same-sex couples and criminalising the ''promotion'' of homosexuality.

Uganda introduced a death penalty for certain same-sex acts in 2023.

Reuters:

Ghana lawmakers approve bill criminalising LGBTQ 'promotion', official says

Ghana’s parliament on Friday ‌approved a new bill that criminalises the so-called promotion of LGBTQ activity, part of a broader crackdown on sexual minorities in West Africa.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, ​2025, passed by a voice vote after the Constitutional and Legal Affairs ​Committee unanimously recommended its adoption, first deputy speaker Bernard Ahiafor said.

The ⁠bill was introduced last year shortly after President John Dramani Mahama took office. Lawmakers ​from Mahama's political party, the National Democratic Congress, had been urged by religious ​leaders and other supporters of the bill to vote on it, and Mahama will now face pressure to sign it.

Lawmakers passed an earlier version of the bill in 2024, under Mahama's ​predecessor, President Nana Akufo-Addo, but it faced legal challenges and Akufo-Addo never ​signed it into law.

The bill approved on Friday maintains the existing penalty of up to three ‌years ⁠in prison for same-sex sexual acts. It also bans "funding, sponsorship or promotion" of LGBTQ acts, with prison terms ranging from three to five years. And it introduces a "duty to report" prohibited LGBTQ acts to a police officer or other authorities, ​with violators facing ​up to three ⁠years behind bars.

The bill further amends Ghana's Extradition Act of 1960 to make offences under the new law extraditable offences.

West ​Africa has seen a raft of anti-LGBTQ legislation in recent ​months.

Senegalese President ⁠Bassirou Diomaye Faye in March signed a bill doubling the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and criminalising any efforts to promote homosexuality.

In September last ⁠year, lawmakers ​in Burkina Faso voted to criminalise same-sex sexual ​acts for the first time and to criminalise "behaviour likely to promote homosexual practices and similar practices."

DW

Ghana approves law criminalising LGBTQ+ activities, advocacy

On Friday, Ghana's Parliament passed a bill imposing prison terms of up to 10 years for individuals who promote, sponsor or advocate LGBTQ+ acts and banning the funding of groups and activities.

The human sexual rights and family values bill is expected to be signed into law by President John Dramani Mahama and would also impose three-year prison terms for individuals engaging in homosexual acts.

Religious groups in the West African country have long advocated for the legislation. Human rights advocates have condemned it.

Supporters say it protects Ghanaian family values and cultural norms. However, critics say it violates constitutional rights and could lead to discrimination and abuse.

According to the Ghanaian constitution, if the president does not sign draft legislation before the end of a parliamentary term, the legislation automatically expires and must be passed again by the new parliament.

The law approved on Friday retains the core provisions of the previous bill, but it also includes exemptions for legal professionals, members of the media, and healthcare professionals.

Same-sex sexual relations are already criminalised in Ghana under an existing colonial-era law, but there have been no prosecutions to date.

Conservative wave in Africa

Human Rights Watch condemned the bill, urging Ghana's government to "uphold the international legal protections that guarantee every Ghanaian equality, non-discrimination, freedom of expression, and privacy."

More than 30 of Africa's 54 countries have laws that criminalise same-sex sexual acts. Some of these laws carry lengthy jail terms of more than 10 years, while in countries like Somalia, Uganda, and Mauritania, the punishment is death.

When the previous bill was passed in 2024, Ghana's Ministry of Finance warned that its enactment could jeopardise billions of dollars in international financing.

BAI