Don’t bow to pressure over Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill - Chief Imam urges MPs

The Office of the National Chief Imam has urged Members of Parliament (MPs) not to succumb to any external pressure but remain resolute in their quest to uphold the social and moral values of the country by ensuring the passage of the bill on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values.

“We encourage them to uphold and respect the social and moral values of the individual constituencies from where they derive their mandate to come to Parliament to enact laws for the country; they must never give up,” the Spokesperson for the Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, said in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.

He also expressed the strong reservation of the Muslim community against LGBTQ+ activities in the country.

The Bill

Known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, and now with the Constitutional, Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill is a Private Members’ Bill championed by eight legislators who are seeking to outlaw LGBTQ+ and related activities, including stipulating jail terms for offenders, sympathisers and funders.

Since its introduction in Parliament, the bill has generated a lot of interest, both in the country and outside.

In the heat of the ongoing debate by the public, some MPs are alleged to have been refused visa by some embassies due to their stance on the bill.

Intimidation

Sheikh Shaibu said the alleged intimidation of proponents of the bill lent credence to the suspicion that the whole idea was coming from the dominance force of the West.

“Our existing laws already frown on LGBTQ+ activities, but this is the time to make the laws more stringent because of the force with which those activities are being promoted in our country.

“Once they are opposed to the bill and intimidating our parliamentarians, it means that the idea is external and it is being pushed down our throats; that is most unfair and a violation of our nationhood,” he added.

According to him, a country was made up of a conglomerate of families, and that any kind of practice that posed a threat to the survival of families also posed a threat to nationhood.

He commended the proponents of the bill for the bold move, while encouraging others not to relent in the fight against what he described as “abominable practices”.

“Regardless of the diversity of our religious beliefs, one common strand runs through us - we all believe in the supernatural and the righteousness of God, as it manifests in human beings through our values, which LGBTQ+ activities seem to undermine,” Sheikh Shaibu said.