Anti-LGBTQ Bill: Mahama Suggests Alternative To Legislation Against Gay People
- President John Mahama has suggested targeted education instead of legislation against members of the LGBTQ community
- Mahama believes Ghana's perceived family values could be better instilled in children when they are young
- The president also said legislation would have a higher chance of success if it were a government-sponsored initiative
President John Mahama has suggested that education could be a better avenue to protect Ghana's perceived family values instead of legislation against members of the LGBTQ community.
Speaking during a meeting with the Catholic Bishops Conference, he said the perceived family values could be better instilled in children when they are young.
Source: Facebook
3News reported that Mahama favoured more inclusive ways to uphold traditional values rather than legislation like the controversial LGBTQ+ bill - Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
"...I think more than even the Family Values Bill, it’s us agreeing on a curriculum that inculcates these values into our children as they’re growing up so that we don’t need to legislate it.“
Mahama said the bill would have a higher chance of success and broader legitimacy if it were a government-sponsored initiative.
The bill, which expired at the dissolution of the eight parliament, was a private members bill.
“For the bill to have broader legitimacy and a higher chance of success, it should ideally come with government backing,” Mahama said.
Legal challenges to the anti-LGBTQ bill
Richard Dela Sky, a lawyer, and Dr Amanda Odoi, a lecturer, unsuccessfully challenged the bill at the Supreme Court.
Sky and Odoi challenged the bill on grounds ranging from Parliamentary procedure to fundamental human rights.
Sky, for example, argued that the law violates constitutional protections, including freedom of speech, expression, assembly, association, freedom from discrimination based on gender, creed, social or economic status, and rights to human dignity.
Among other things, persons who identify as LGBTQ or engage in same-sexual acts could be jailed between three months and three years.
Open allies of the LGBTQ community such as donors, activists, or promoters, could be jailed between a minimum of three months and a maximum of six months in jail.
The Supreme Court dismissed the petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill in December 2024.
In its summary judgment, the Supreme Court panel said the petition did not properly invoke the court's jurisdiction.
The leader of the panel, Justice Lovelace Avril Johnson, said the challenges were premature.
“We are of the view that the subject of the litigation, being a bill still undergoing the process of becoming law in accordance with the provisions fully set out in the constitution, it will be premature for this court to exercise its interpretive and enforcement jurisdiction to intervene.”
Akufo-Addo refused to receive anti-gay bill
YEN.com.gh reported that former President Akufo-Addo refused to receive the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which Parliament approved on June 28, 2024.
Akufo-Addo cited the lawsuits as his reasoning and returned the bill to Parliament when it was sent for his assent.
The courts refused to compel him, noting that granting such a request would be inappropriate because of the bill's legal challenges at the Supreme Court.
Proofread by Samuel Gitonga, Copy Editor at YEN.com.gh
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Source: YEN.com.gh
