Ghana's media have promoted hate towards members of LGBTQ+ Community - Prof Gadzekpo

Prof Gadzekpo calls out Journalists

Prof Gadzekpo says the media has been biased in its coverage of LGBTQ+ Community

Prof Gadzekpo recounts how she was attacked for speaking against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Ghana's media has for years, acted unfairly toward members of the LGBTQ+ Community through their reportage and failure to call out persons as well as leaders who trample on the rights of this minority group, this is according to Professor Audrey Gadzekpo.

According to her journalists who are expected to protect minority groups and also give equal opportunity in their coverage have instead stereotyped persons perceived to be homosexuals.

Prof. Gadzekpo speaking at her Inaugural Lecture on Thursday, April 28, noted that she has been a victim of abuse, just because she was against the 'controversial' Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

"The media, particularly, social media have acted as accelerants of hate against certain social groups, notably in recent times, members of the LGBTQ+ Community. Journalists have betrayed their own biases against sexual minorities by stereotyping and denigrating them in their coverage. By failing to give them adequate opportunity to defend their right and generally failing to challenge those who seek to trample on their human rights," said the Former Dean, School of Information and Communication Studies at the University of Ghana.

Speaking at the lecture monitored by GhanaWeb under the theme "Taking the Grown to Town: Reflection of a Scholar-Activist on Media in Ghana's Democratic Journey', Prof Gadzekpo called out 'legacy media practitioners' for attacks against persons who dare to speak against the abuse and infringement of the rights of members of the LGBTQ+ Community in Ghana.

She named herself as a victim of verbal abuse for speaking against the anti-LGBTQI+ Bill which she described as inhumane. The Professor is among the 18-member group that submitted a memorandum challenging the anti-gay legislation.

"It has been disappointing to see how reluctant the media have been to call out traditional leaders who threaten to ban citizens perceived as LGBTQ+ from their towns and villages. I of course have had direct experience of these injustices as a member of a group of eighteen persons who sent a memorandum to Parliament against the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Not only have we been verbally lynched on social media, but at times, the attack has been carefully orchestrated by legacy media practitioners," she noted.