Parliament commences consideration of LGBTQ+ bill

Parliament last Friday began the consideration of the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 in a move that affirmed the House’s readiness to pass the bill before going on recess on December 22, 2023.

Although the House did not finish all the proposed amendments to some of the controversial clauses in the bill, a few amendments were effected.

For instance, the House favoured the deletion of the word “Proper” for the bill to now read “Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values”.

The House also agreed to the deletion of the word “queer” from clause one on grounds that queer was an umbrella term used for people who were not heterosexuals and related to all activities of LGBTQIA+.

The consideration was led by the Ranking Member on the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Bernard Ahiafor, due to the absence of the committee’s Chairman, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi.

The Speaker had told the House that an understanding had been reached that in the absence of the Chairman of the committee, any member could take up the matter.

“If the Chairman is available, he would lead us and in the absence of the chairman any member could take up the matter,” Mr Bagbin said.

Consideration continues

The consideration of the bill is to continue today.

The object of the bi-partisan private members’ bill is to provide for proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values to proscribe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) and related activities in the country.  

It was introduced to Parliament on August 2, 2021 and the Speaker referred it to the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.

Given the sensitive nature of the bill, the committee has held nine public hearings to seek the wider inputs of interested stakeholders before it presented the bill to the House on March 31, 2023 for a debate to commence ahead of its consideration and passage. 

Controversies

Although the Speaker of Parliament has on several occasions affirmed the House’s willingness to consider and pass the bill, the two sides of the House had on a few occasions expressed divergent views, triggering impediments in the passage of the bill.

Just last Wednesday, the lead sponsor of the bill, the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George, expressed the Minority Caucus’s frustration at an alleged deliberate attempt by some members of the Majority Caucus not to support the passage of the bill.

He particularly accused the First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei-Owusu, for not allowing the bill to go through the consideration that fateful day.

He said the Speaker had indicated to the sponsors that the bill was to be taken on Wednesday and wanted all to be present.

He also accused Mr Anyimadu-Antwi of deliberately absenting himself from the House for no apparent reason.

"Unfortunately, since 8 a.m., I have been calling the Chairman of the committee, but he has refused to answer," he told the media at a press conference last Wednesday.

Reaction

Reacting to the allegation, Mr Anyimadu-Antwi said any attempt by some lawmakers to “clothe” the bill would cause it to “suffer non-passage”.

He said currently all the 18 members of the committee were ready to consider the bill and were awaiting the Speaker of Parliament and the leadership to agree when they could take the bill through the consideration stage.

“Let no person attempt to clothe this bill with any political colour because the moment it is clothed with political colour, I am sure that my people will support me and we will have a stalemate on this bill.

“We must pass a bill that will become an act that will withstand the test of time, and therefore we must iron out all differences,” the MP for Asante Akim Central said.