Abstract Book of the 4th International Conference on LGBT Studies
Year: 2025
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Homophobic and Misinformation within the Bill of the Eighth Parliament Versus Informed and Inclusive Judiciary Process of the Fourth Republic of Ghana
Abubakari Iddirisu
ABSTRACT:
The eighth parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana demonstrated their hate and disregard for the right of the citizenry to freedom of life, this is in line with their homophobic laws towards samesex people in Ghana. In the eighth parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, some parliamentarians drafted a bill, which all parliamentarians of the eighth parliament unanimously voted to confirm family values and the proper human sexual orientation bill to criminalise same-sex activities within Ghana. The executive arm of government at the time did not consider the signing of the approved bill of parliament, since it was not a contributory factor to the economic woes of the people, but, it was of ill intention to drive the foreign grants and donations which were often advance to the Government of Ghana for many reproductive health roles including combating the spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). The political class of both National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party did not witness the coming of this act under His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo. Similarly, the judicial arm of the Ghana Government was drawn into the tussle through the involvement of private legal practitioners who took the approved bill to the Supreme Court of Ghana to study and advice on the legislation to curtail the infringement of the fundamental human rights of the citizenry, this is to halt the signing of the bill into an act that will criminalise the practice and advocacy for the safety of the vulnerable groups among the Ghanaian people. Spanning from 2021 to 2024, the anxiety, stress, depression and trauma LGBTQI+ community members went through continue to linger on since the inclusive executive arm of Government was ousted by the 97% homophobic citizenry in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections. Since the New Patriotic Party (Government) lost the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, both the executive and legislature of the post 7th January 2025, often posed uncertainty and doubt of a better tomorrow for the LGBTQ+ community members in Ghana, which lingers on God, Almighty and the Global laws, as well as universal conventions.
Keywords: homophobic bill, Judiciary, executive, criminalise, Supreme Court