Ghanaian MP Emmanuel Bedzrah has staunchly defended the country’s new anti-LGBTQ+ bill, claiming the legislation is, in part, intended to “prevent” gay people from being subjected to violence, including being stoned by their peers.

Ghana’s parliament approved the sweeping bill in May, criminalising homosexuality and the promotion of LGBTQ+ activities. Under the legislation, identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer could be punishable by up to three years in prison. The draconian legislation also mandates prison sentences of up to 10 years for those found guilty of “promotion of, propagation of, advocacy for, support or funding of” LGBTQ-related activities. It also includes provisions requiring people to report suspected LGBTQ+ individuals.

Britain bears a substantial share of the historical responsibility for the legal institutionalisation of homophobia in many African countries. Prior to the colonisation of Ghana in 1874, whilst there existed a strong societal expectation around heterosexual marriage and having children, consensual same-sex relationships were not generally criminalised under customary law.

Post-1874, same-sex relations were banned under British colonial law in Ghana. Ghana’s new legislation expands criminal liability and is designed to affect both LGBTQ+ people and their allies, including anyone who provides services, support or advocacy.

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The LGBTQ+ community in Ghana has since been described by community organisations as “living in fear”, with people worried they could lose their homes, jobs or access to healthcare, and many reviewing and deleting their online posts for fear of their identities being revealed.

Leila Lariba, director of One Love Sisters Ghana, an organisation that supports lesbian and bisexual women, said: “People are panicking and scared. The new bill affects where you are staying; it can get you evicted; it can lead you to lose your job.

“No matter how safe you think you are,” she said, “you do not know who’s ready to talk.”

Bedzrah, one of the bill’s co-authors, said in a recent interview with the BBC that homosexuality goes against Ghana’s “cultural norm”. He stated:

“If a man is kissing another man and somebody else sees it outside, because our culture frowns on it, what will happen, if you’re not careful, that man will stone you, the two of you.”

He added that the bill was a preventative measure, stating:

“To prevent that, we said let there be a law so that nobody will see you… doing something against the cultural norm of society”

When Bedzrah is implored “why isn’t there an education of those people who would want to stone somebody who’s gay?” Bedzrah responds:

“Why don’t they respect our culture? If you want to be gay. be gay forever. Don’t bring it into our society.”

The legislation is part of a growing trend in the use of laws to target LGBTQ+ people, which Amnesty International has described as a “deepening crisis of homophobic lawfare.” Ghana, along with countries such as Uganda, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal, has substantially strengthened its anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

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