Ghana’s parliament passed a bill on Saturday criminalizing homosexuality and the “promotion of LGBTQ+ activities.”
The bill states that anyone who is in a same-sex relationship will be jailed for a maximum of three years, as well as anyone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer.
Additionally, anyone who “promotes” LGBTQ+ acts can be jailed for 10 years. This includes providing funding for LGBTQ+ groups and activities.
LGBTQ+ allies could also face prison sentences.
The bill also includes a “duty to report” gay acts to the police. However, legal, media, and healthcare professionals who report on LGBTQ+ issues, provide medical treatment, or other services were excluded.
This happens as Pride Month is set to start around the world on Monday.
The bill’s sponsor, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, said that the bill will protect Ghanaian family values and cultural norms.
He added that the bans would make existing laws “more robust, more encompassing and more stringent in dealing with the practices of LGBTQI,” according to the BBC.
The bill replaces a 2024 bill that was never signed into law by Ghana’s former president. Accra’s current President John Mahama has indicated some support for the bill. Notably, shortly after taking office in 2025, he said that he believes “in the principles and values that only two genders exist – man and woman – and that marriage is between a man and a woman,” according to the BBC.
Human Rights Watch called the bill “draconian” when it was first reintroduced in March. The organization further recommended that the bill be abandoned in a formal submission to Ghana’s constitutional and legal affairs, which reviews legislation.
Notably, same-sex relationships in Ghana have been banned since the British colonial era, the BBC reported.
Ghana is joining a string of African countries that have moved to ban homosexuality.
In 2023, Uganda passed what is largely viewed as the most extreme anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. proscribing the death penalty for certain gay acts, and life imprisonment for homosexuality.
In Senegal, same-sex couples can face 10 years in prison for any sexual acts.
