Dr Jeffrey Haynes, Professor Emeritus of Politics, London Metropolitan University, UK
By Professor Jeffrey Haynes
President John Mahama recently stated that he would sign into law a newly-introduced anti-LGBTQ+ bill if Parliament approves it. He gave this assurance to the Christian Council of Ghana at the Jubilee House when the Council paid a courtesy call on him on Tuesday, November 18, 2025. The ‘Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill’, first passed in 2024 but halted by legal challenges, is now again before Ghana’s parliament. If approved, identifying as LGBTQ+ could carry up to three years in prison, while promoting LGBTQ+ rights or funding related groups could lead to up to 10 years’ incarceration. Any such law would also ban same-sex marriage, criminalise those attending same-sex weddings and outlaw gender-affirming care. Although Ghana already criminalises same-sex sexual activity under colonial-era laws, such a law would expand penalties significantly.
The American non-governmental organisation, Freedom House, stated in its 2024 report on human rights in Ghana that the country has a relatively strong record of upholding political rights and civil liberties. Yet, discrimination against women persists, and LGBT+ people face widespread discrimination, intimidation, and violence. Given this, why would President Mahama support the bill? There appear to be several reasons for his support, including the need to uphold ‘traditional family values’, to maintain the principle that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that gender is determined at birth.
It is not clear what President Mahama makes of specific areas of the bill, including the highly controversial areas of ‘conversation therapy’ or punishment for LGBTQ+ ‘allies’, that is, journalists, academics and others who seek in the public interest to examine pros and cons of the bill rather than just accept the view that the law is necessary to uphold ‘traditional family values’, defend African culture, and follow God’s wishes.
If the bill becomes law, the present author would presumably be liable for prosecution for discussing the bill in articles such as this one. For the record, I am a UK citizen, based in Britain, and a regular visitor to Ghana. Would I be denied a visa for ‘defending’ LGBTQ+ rights in print or find myself arrested if allowed into the country? Full disclosure: I am neither paid by foreign ‘pro-LGBT’ groups to express my views, nor am I gay myself.
Many of my Ghanaian friends and acquaintances admit – privately – that the bill is anti-human rights, while at the same time suggesting that the reason that many Ghanaians support the bill is because Europe is trying to thrust its views down the throats of Ghanaians, compelling them by fear of economic punishments to be considerate towards the rights of gays. Initially, when the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby said he was ‘gravely concerned’ by the bill he was soon compelled by pressure from the African church to apologised for the statement, saying that he had ‘no authority over the Church of Ghana, nor would I want any’. This does not sound as though that particular European senior Christian had authority in this context.
It may come as news to many Ghanaians that European countries are not unanimously ‘pro-gay’. While no European country currently has an explicit anti-gay law, some have laws that lack protections of or are more restrictive towards their LGBTQ+ communities. Others have religious or constitutional provisions that ban same-sex marriage. Some former Soviet countries like Russia and Belarus have recently passed laws that restrict LGBTQ+ rights, and some European countries have not yet fully implemented protections against discrimination. In addition, while some Western European nations allow same-sex marriage, others like Poland and Hungary are seen as less progressive on LGBTQ+ rights due to their constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, which align with their neighbours including: Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, which also ban same sex marriage.
Condemnation of alleged European support for LGBTQ+ rights in Ghana extends to what many would see as a bastion of European values: Ghana’s university sector, explicitly the University of Ghana, founded in 1948 by the British colonial government as the University College of the Gold Coast. Moses Foh-Amoaning, Executive Secretary of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values claims that the University of Ghana has changed its internal rules and statutes to allow for transgender and LGBTQ+ activities and admission policies. He made these allegations as part of his advocacy for the passage of Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill, claiming that the University of Ghana’s alleged actions underscore the need for such national legislation to prevent what he considers the promotion of ‘un-Ghanaian’ values within educational institutions. Mr Foh-Amoaning has not provided evidence in support of this assertions and at the time of writing the University had not responded to his attack.
Will Ghana fall in line with other African countries which have draconian anti-gay laws? Some – for example, Mauritania, Somalia, Uganda, and northern Nigeria – have severe anti-LGBTQ+ laws, with some carrying the death penalty and others with life imprisonment or other penalties. The specifics vary, from criminalising consensual same-sex acts to having laws on ‘gross indecency’ or discriminatory practices against LGBTQ+ individuals. I have known and loved Ghana for 40 years, since my first visit to the country when researching for a PhD. I regard Ghana as a bastion of liberal democracy and supporter of human rights and it would be a great pity if a draconian anti-LGBTQ+ law made this position difficult or impossible to defend.
The writer is an Emeritus Professor of Politics at London Metropolitan University, UK.
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