Ghana’s Anti-LGBTQ Bill Clears Supreme Court Hurdle, Threatening Lives

New York, New York - December 18, 2024 - Ghana’s Supreme Court has dismissed a bid to declare the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill unconstitutional. The ruling clears the way for the enactment of one of the most draconian anti-LGBTQ laws in the world. 

The law, passed by Ghana’s parliament in February and pending presidential assent, takes the preposterous, extreme, and internationally unprecedented step of criminalizing simply being what the law refers to as an “LGBTTQAP+” person, defined as “a person who holds out as a lesbian, a gay, a bisexual, a transgender, a transsexual, a queer, an ally, a pansexual, or any other sexual identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female” with penalties of up to three years in prison. An earlier version of the bill also criminalized intersex people, who already face severe stigma in Ghana. Under other provisions of the bill, those who fail to report their sexual orientation or that of others also face criminal penalties, requiring medical professionals, development and humanitarian organizations, corporations, and others to violate their own ethical standards to comply with the law. The law also bans any effort to change public opinion on LGBTQ issues, impacting not only sexual and gender minorities but anyone who stands up for their rights. 

The court ruled that it would be premature to exercise its interpretive and enforcement jurisdiction to intervene. Judge Avril Lovelace-Johnson added, “Until there is presidential assent to the bill, there is no act of which the Supreme Court will use its supervisory jurisdiction to overturn. Consequently, the action fails.”

The ruling leaves it to outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo to decide whether to formally receive the bill in the final three weeks of his term. Then, he can either sign it into law or leave the decision in the hands of incoming president John Dramini Mahama, who takes office on 7 January.

The introduction of the bill has exacerbated anti-LGBTQ attitudes in Ghana, leading to increased violent attacks and intimidation against people perceived to be sexual or gender minorities. Outright has documented how the bill has already contributed to mob attacks, physical violence, arbitrary arrests, blackmail, online harassment, verbal harassment, gang rape and other acts of sexual violence, conversion practices, forced evictions, homelessness, employment discrimination, and robbery. The bill seeks to divide families and communities, creating a hostile environment for LGBTQ individuals and their allies. 

The ruling comes months after the Supreme Court of Ghana upheld a longstanding colonial-era law that criminalizes adult consensual same-sex conduct. Under Section 104 of the Penal Code, anal sex, referred to as “unnatural carnal knowledge,” is punished with three years’ imprisonment. In July 2024, Ghana’s Supreme Court dismissed a constitutional challenge against Section 104, with legal arguments couched in claims around the country’s “unique traditional and cultural identity” and the rejection of “alien cultural values.”