Ghana gay activists mand release of 21 people arrted at LGBTQ nference | CNN

Contents:

• EXPLAER: WHAT MAK GHANA’S ANTI-GAY BILL SO EXTREME?
• GHANA: ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSG 10-YEAR PRISON SENTENC SPARKS OUTRAGE
• HOW 2 GAY MEN LIVE A COUNTRY WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS ILLEGAL
• GAY LIFE GHANA--IN DANGER AND IN THE CLOSET
• GAY ACTIVISTS GHANA MAND RELEASE OF 21 PEOPLE ARRTED AT LGBTQI NFERENCE

EXPLAER: WHAT MAK GHANA’S ANTI-GAY BILL SO EXTREME?

If passed s current form, rights groups say uld spark a wch-hunt of sexual mori, advocy groups and “alli”, forcg the public to report on their are some of the ma measur, wh excerpts om the bill self:A clampdown on LGBTQ+ intyThe law would crimalise, wh up to five years prison, intifyg as a LGBTQ+ person, havg a gay relatnship or terurse. (A) person ms an offence if the person holds out as a lbian, a gay, a transgenr, a transsexual, a queer, a pansexual, an ally …. A duty to reportAnyone ma aware of gay acts who fails to report them uld also be crimalised.

GHANA: ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSG 10-YEAR PRISON SENTENC SPARKS OUTRAGE

Shone Apong, a paralegal and advote for mori Ghana, says the bill is an attack on the existence of anyone believed to be gay or queer. It was put forward by a cross-party group of MPs led by Sam Gee, an opposn MP and one of the most proment anti-gay figur parliament.

Both are active Ai and other parts of the world fightg agast abortn rights and gay rights. Draft anti-gay legislatn submted to Ghana’s parliament uld propose up to 10 years jail for LGBTQ+ people as well as groups and dividuals who advote for their rights, exprs sympathy or offer social or medil support, one of the most dranian and sweepg anti-gay laws proposed around the world. In Febary, a muny space offerg support for sexual mori was forced to close amid a backlash om policians, civil and relig groups and the media, and also led to a rise arrts and abe agast people perceived to be gay or Friday, Sam Nartey Gee, an MP who has scribed gay rights as a “perversn” and led a group of lawmakers who drafted the bill, dismissed onle nmnatn of the bill as “unrmed”.

“Homosexualy is not a human right. “I have spent all my time as a journalist advotg for gay rights so I n’t believe that we have arrived at this pot where they want to crimalise everythg and everyone cludg the existence of alli, tersex and asexual folks. Marriage would be clearly fed Ghanaian law as beg between a male and pani, onle platforms and acunts which publish rmatn which uld be emed to enurage children to explore any genr or sex outsi of the bary tegori of male and female uld face 10 years January, groups across public life, om policians to journalists, civil and relig lears, have led fierce nmnatn of LGBTQ+ rights and support works ’s ernment promised new laws to prohib pro-gay advocy, amid hysteria over bolr efforts to tablish support for sexual mori.

HOW 2 GAY MEN LIVE A COUNTRY WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS ILLEGAL

Prosecutns are rare, yet many gay and queer people have reported experiencg abe by cizens and law enforcement growg clamour for a clampdown on those perceived to be promotg LGBTQ+ rights, 21 people were arrted the cy of Ho March, at a trag event for paralegals and other profsnals workg on supportg vulnerable groups. Some 37 Ain untri crimalize homosexual relatnships, wh penalti rangg om mismeanors to ath sentenc, acrdg to a Human Rights Campaign Foundatn and Human Rights First report released Tuday.

GAY LIFE GHANA--IN DANGER AND IN THE CLOSET

In Ghana, a untry often regard as among the most progrsively mocratic natns Ai, homosexualy remas illegal, punishable by up to three years imprisonment.

GAY ACTIVISTS GHANA MAND RELEASE OF 21 PEOPLE ARRTED AT LGBTQI NFERENCE

A recent Pew survey of var untri, not all Ain, reveals that 98 percent of Ghanaians feel that homosexualy is “morally unacceptable, ” the hight percentage of any untry surveyed. “In Ghana, everybody is culturally and religly bld, ” says Fred K., an openly gay man livg the Ghanaian pal of Accra who didn’t want to share his last name for fear of crimal and social repercsns.

“My fellow gays don’t want anythg to be legalized, ” Nana Yaw, a human rights activist and openly gay man, says. Cam is a South ain who travels to Ghana on bs and had this to say about gay life there. “I had vised Ghana six tim ( the last five years), on bs and pleasure, and had never really explored gay life that untry, bee of my mandg bs schle.

I had, however, munited by e-mail wh a young gay Ghanaian man over the last year. On my vis to Ghana June 2003, I fally met wh my “new” young gay Ghanaian iend, who then troduced me to the “not so closeted” gay Ghanaian life. So what is gay life like Ghana?