Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, a board member of the LGBTQ+ Rights Ghana, has stated that she will devote all of her work to fighting the anti-gay measure presented by Ghana’s Parliament.
Some MPs submitted a private member bill to the Speaker of Parliament earlier this year that attempts to outlaw LGBTQ+ and related activities.
Va-Bene, on the other hand, calls the bill “hateful” and claims that “all those who argue in favor of it do so without basis.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do yet,” she told Sefa Danquah on the Happy Morning Show, “but that is never going to change my view on this bill, and that is never going to change my sexuality and gender.” As a result, I’ll have to battle until the last drop of blood.”
Some legislators presented a draft of the Bill to the Speaker of Parliament on June 29, 2021. The goal of this bill is to broaden the current law, which allows for up to three years in prison for same-sex activities.
When passed, the proposed measure will make it illegal to advocate for, fund, or act on behalf of LGBTQ+ persons, while also promoting conversion therapy programs that seek to “convert” people from homosexuality to heterosexuality.
Meanwhile, a group of fifteen well-known legal, intellectual, and civil society figures have signed a memorandum opposing the anti-gay legislation currently before Parliament.
They argue in the memorandum that the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, which intends to punish LGBTQ+ and related activities, is a “unacceptable violation of human dignity.”
On the other hand, several Christian leaders have filed a memorandum to Parliament approving the Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.