President John Dramani Mahama, has taken flight away from assenting to the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill commonly referred to as the Anti-Gay bill.
The anti-LGBT bill (formally the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill) is a proposed law in Ghana that would introduce wide-ranging restrictions on LGBT+ rights.
The bill was approved by the Parliament of Ghana on 28 February 2024 with bipartisan support but did not come into effect as it was not assented by the country’s immediate past president, Nana Akufo-Addo.
It was expected that President John Mahama will take this bill up and assent it to law as he had on numerous occasions asserted he was against the legalization of LGBTQ+ in the country.
However, the President in a meeting with the Catholic Bishop Conference stated that the Anti-Gay bill died with the 8th Parliament as it did not receive presidential assent during the period.
He suggested to the Catholic Bishop Conference that the bill be now reintroduced as a government sponsored bill to ensure broader consultation rather than a private member’s bill.
“The LGBTQ Bill died with the 8th Parliament, but I think we need to have a conversation on that. I think it should be government sponsored and not a Private Member’s Bill,” he said.
“I do think we should have have a conversation on it again so that all of us, if we decide to move that bill forward, move it forward with a consensus.”
He further added, “We won’t need a bill to enforce our family values, and that’s why I think more than even the Family Values Bill, it’s us agreeing on a curriculum that inculcates these values into our children as they’re growing up so that we don’t need to legislate it.”
