Ghana’s Dreaded Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill Ready For Parliament

Ghana’s oppressive anti-LGBTQ+ bill is back on the legislative agenda, sparking renewed alarm among human rights defenders and LGBTQ+ communities in the country.

On Tuesday, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, confirmed that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2025 is set for its first reading.

The bill is among several pieces of legislation that have “completed the processes as required by the standing orders and are expected to be presented for the first reading,” Bagbin told MPs.

This development marks the latest chapter in a years-long push to legislate sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ measures in Ghana. Originally introduced in 2021, the anti-LGBTQ+ bill was passed by Parliament in February 2024, despite widespread international condemnation and appeals from human rights organisations.

However, the bill stalled when then-President Nana Akufo-Addo declined to sign it into law. With the dissolution of Parliament following the December 2024 elections, incoming President John Mahama declared that the bill had effectively expired.

Undeterred, a group of MPs reintroduced the legislation in February this year, seeking to reignite its passage and eventual enactment. Among the bill’s vocal supporters is MP and Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, who claimed that the re-election of US President Donald Trump has created “a global political climate favourable for conservative values.”

While it’s unclear whether the 2025 version of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill differs from its predecessor, the original legislation proposed sweeping and severe restrictions.

It sought to criminalise even identifying as LGBTQ+, or as an ally, and introduced harsh penalties — including up to five years in prison for same-sex intimacy and up to ten years for advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.

It also targeted individuals undergoing or providing gender-affirming care and penalised landlords who rented property to LGBTQ+ individuals, with potential prison terms of up to six years.

As lawmakers gear up to revisit the bill, LGBTQ+ activists in Ghana are sounding the alarm about an increasingly hostile environment for queer individuals and human rights defenders.

Rightify Ghana, a local human rights group, has reported a wave of attacks in Northern Ghana targeting LGBTQI+ activists. “From physical attacks, eviction, and death threats to media-led defamation and economic sabotage, these defenders are being punished for standing up against hate,” said the organisation.

In one harrowing case, two activists who assisted victims of a queerphobic attack have been left homeless. One of them was beaten, fined, and banished from their community, while the other received death threats. Rightify Ghana says it is working to provide them with emergency relocation, medical and psychological support, and legal assistance.

“The systemic nature of these threats—rooted in local power structures and reinforced by media influence—has created a chilling effect across the northern regions,” said the organisation.

As international observers and local communities watch closely, the return of Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill to Parliament is not only a threat to basic human rights but a dangerous escalation of anti-queer rhetoric and violence in the country.