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Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin says that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI +) practices are an abomination to Ghanaian culture and will therefore not be accepted in the country.
This follows a statement made by the Australian High Commissioner in Ghana, Gregory Andrews, stating that any attempt by the Ghanaian Parliament to enact or pass legislation to discriminate against the rights of the LGBTQI + community and any form of promotion will be disappointing.
Andrews stated that Ghanaian culture needs to accept people for what they are respecting their rights without causing any harm to the people who indulge in the act.
Paying a courtesy visit to the Speaker of Parliament on Thursday, he said: “We believe that in order to protect human rights sometimes our culture must adapt and that does not mean being a different culture, it means accepting people for who they are, especially when they are not causing harm to anyone else. “
“That is why on LGBTQ + issues, Australia will really encourage the Parliament of Ghana not to pass laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ + community or take away their rights or make it illegal for people to defend their Human Rights.”
In his response, President Alban Bagbin said that Parliament will not pass any legislation that infringes on people’s human rights.
However, he noted that the Chamber will not legalize homosexuality.
According to him, LGBTQI + practices are contrary to Ghanaian customs, therefore they will not be accepted in the country.
“I want to assure you that we have a very good constitution. Our laws abhor any form of discrimination. We also count on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights to guide us in everything we do.
“And so on the LGBTQI + issue we definitely already have a legal framework within which to work. We will not legislate to violate people’s Human Rights, but we will legislate to ensure that culture and traditions are not violated.
“This is something that we see as an abomination, it is something that we abhor and therefore we will continue to go according to their culture,” he told the Australian High Commissioner.
