On the 31st of January 2021, LGBT+ Rights Ghana opened its doors to members of the Ghanian LGBT+ community and their allies with a community centre. What should have been celebrated as a positive step in the right direction, where the rights and freedoms of LGBT+ people are respected, was instead marred by intense vitriol and backlash. Since it opened, Catholic bishops have kicked against it , an ‘ultra-nationalists’ politician has demanded the deportation of the European Union ambassadors who declared their support and this guy suggested laws against ‘homosexuality advocacy’.
Ghana needs a law against homosexuality advocacy – Oppong Nkrumah https://t.co/MIbrh17NBK pic.twitter.com/TLPCsO84I4
— Pulse Ghana (@PulseGhana) February 18, 2021
It’s disappointing that in 2021, LGBT+ people are still debating their existence (no, they literally are). Just when it finally feels like some progress is being made, the government unsurprisingly swoops in and clamps down like a thief in the night. On the 22nd of February 2021, president Nana Akufo-Addo ordered the LGBT+ Rights Ghana to be shut down. According to reports, a combined team of heavily armed police and plain-clothed National Security officials stormed the centre and closed it down.
Currently, LGBT+ people in Ghana are facing increased levels of verbal and physical attacks, with some even receiving death threats. While these attacks on their citizens carry on, lawmakers remain chilling silent in the face of these adversities, preferring to divert their energy to spewing homophobic rhetoric. Phrases like ‘it’s against our culture’ and ‘it’s immoral’ are things we hear too often during these times, making it seemingly easier for elected officials, who are tasked with protecting the rights of their citizens, to turn a deaf ear to the violence. What these phrases also do is provide avenues that excuse and encourage attacks on LGBT+ people.
This is how Ghana media fans the flames of homophobia. Queer ppl have to go on media to literally debate homophobes instead of the media to fact check the homophobes and use their platforms to show the humanity of marginalized ppl https://t.co/9fFUqeeH6c
— I’m not a baker… 🏳️🌈 (@YaaAsantewaaBa) February 22, 2021
Shutting down the LGBT+ Rights Ghana centre sends a clear message about what lives the government values and what lives it doesn’t. Like in Nigeria, and many African countries (38 out of 53 to be exact!) where homosexuality is still criminalized, legislative restrictions on sexual desires and practices are unethical infringements on human rights.
Organizations such as LGBT+Rights Ghana are doing the necessary work to overrule harmful laws that narrowly define normality and must be protected at all costs. Let’s be clear: the lives of LGBT+ should not be up for debate. Lawmakers should spend more time safeguarding the rights of all their citizens, not just the select few that fit into their ideas of normalcy and acceptability.
