• The 18-member bloc asked Parliament in a memo to dismiss the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill
• Parliament is due to debate the bill when the House resumes later this month
The 18-member human rights bloc advocating against an anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, LGBTQI+, Bill before Parliament have served notice that they will not be gagged despite threats to some members.
Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, one of the signatories to the memo that demanded that the Bill be scrapped citing its undemocratic and unconstitutional nature, revealed that the leader of the bloc, Akoto Ampaw, had received an email captioned ‘Gay Lawyer’ with the contents therein threatening him with death.
She stressed that whiles they accepted that people with reasonable objections to their stance will raise such objections, there was the need to be civil about the exchanges.
She tasked especially leaders of religious groups to call on their followers to desist from such threats.
“I would like to state from the outset that whiles we welcome debate, we insist that this debate should be civil,” she said on GTV’s weekend talk programme, Talking Point.
After enumerating specific instances where three members of the bloc had been subjected to threats and insults, she added: “To hear somebody who has a reasoned objection and for us, we welcome all those reasoned objections but we insist that they should be held in a civil and respectful manner.
“And we would like to hear all the people who oppose us to call on their supporters to desist from these threats. They are uncharitable as they are unchristian and un-Muslim and really do not foster democratic values or tolerance in a democratic society.
“So by all means let us disagree, we submitted our memo in response to a call from Parliament, we will not be gagged. This is our opinion, you are free to disagree with us but you do not have the right to threaten anybody,” she added.
Parliament is due to debate the Bill properly named, ‘The Promotion of Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021,’ which was months back referred to the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of the lawmaking house.
Parliament called for memos on the bill leading to the submission of over 120 memoranda according to lead sponsor of the Bill, Sam Nartey George who is Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram.
Ghana’s pro-gay collective
A group of 18 academicians and human rights defenders have voiced strong opposition to the bill before Parliament, which is seeking to extensively criminalize LGBTQ+ activities.
The group submitted a memorandum to Parliament seeking that the bill be rejected because it was largely unconstitutional and infringed on basic human rights.
Members of Parliament behind the bill, led by Ningo Prampram MP Sam Nartey George, have rubbished the memorandum and asserted that the bill will be passed into law because it has the support of the wider Ghanaian populace.
Prof Takyiwaa Manuh is a member of the pro-LGBTQ+ bloc