Anti-LGBTQ Bill: Mahama Signals Intent Of His Government To Adopt Controversial Legislation

• President John Mahama has suggested that his administration is willing to sponsor the anti-LGBTQ bill
• The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill was reportedly reintroduced to Parliament
• The bill, called the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, is currently being sponsored by private members

President John Mahama has said his administration is in consultation with the Speaker of Parliament for the anti-LGBT bill to be introduced in Parliament as a government-sponsored bill.

The bill, called the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, is currently being sponsored by private members.

3News reported that the president announced this during his Fellowship with the Clergy at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on February 28, 2025.

Mahama insisted that only two genders existed.

“I as a Christian, uphold the values that only two genders exist as man and woman and that the marriage is between a man and woman."

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"I have spoken with the Speaker so that a renewal of the expired Proper Family Values Bill should be a bill that is introduced by the government rather than as a private member motion."

This came after the MP for Assin South, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, said the bill had been reintroduced to Parliament for consideration.

While Mahama has indicated his opposition to homosexuality, he has not explicitly pledged to sign the bill.

This is the strongest show of intent from his administration thus far.

Mahama recently suggested that education would be a better way of protecting Ghana's perceived family values instead of legislation, prompting some backlash from critics.

Unsuccessful legal challenges to the anti-LGBTQ bill

Richard Dela Sky, a lawyer, and Dr Amanda Odoi, a lecturer, unsuccessfully sued to quash the bill.

Sky and Odoi challenged the bill at the Supreme Court on grounds ranging from Parliamentary procedure to fundamental human rights.

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The Supreme Court dismissed the petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill in December 2024.

The leader of the panel, Justice Lovelace Avril Johnson, said the challenges were premature.

On February 26, the Supreme Court again dismissed a review application from Sky challenging its earlier judgment.

Akufo-Addo refused to receive anti-LGBTQ bill

YEN.com.gh reported that former President Akufo-Addo refused to assent to the bill which the last Parliament approved on June 28, 2024.

Akufo-Addo referenced lawsuits against the bill as his reasoning and sent the bill back to Parliament when it was sent for 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.

Source: YEN.com.gh