Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George has commended Parliament’s decision to be open on the debate of the anti-LGBTQI bill, a move he noted is good for the democracy of the country.
According to him, the LGBTQI debate is an issue of national and international interest and as such making one’s position clear in Parliament on the debate is in the right direction.
“This is not like just any other bill that people really have no interest in. The Ghanaian people have an interest in, and if they have an interest, we need to serve it. It is only fair. If you sit where I sit, you would only be grateful for what the Speaker is saying because the other side is not playing fair”.
Mr Sam George
Following parliament’s reconvening, Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin announced that the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs’ debate on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, popularly known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, will be made public.
Mr Bagbin revealed that the decision will help in holding a candid conversation on the bill, one devoid of political and religious sentiments. He explained that although it is important to have varied opinions and views geared towards shaping the Bill, people need to accommodate the views of others.
“So please let’s allow everyone; whether religious bodies, civil society, academia or whatever to participate in the deliberations of this house. I know Ghanaians are expectant, and I know we have over 100 petitions before the legal affairs committee. The sitting of the committee will be public, and the decision of this House will be public, we will want to know where each Member of Parliament stands”.
Mr Alban Bagbin
The Speaker noted that he is convinced the law that will be birthed from the debate will be one that will evenly protect the people, culture and values of the country.
Criminal code of LGBTQI
Meanwhile, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante has described the current Criminal Code, as a little vague, particularly in relation to LGBTQI+ activities.
Speaking in an interview, he revealed that “the Criminal code did not anticipate or capture all the alphabets in the current discussion on LGBTQI+”.
“When the criminal code was being made, all that it talked about was unnatural canal knowledge of a person and we defined unnatural canal knowledge as sexual activity that is unnatural. In the current discussions in the humanities, the word natural is very behavioural where most things are said to be by social construct and so it made it very vague”.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante
Following this, he called for an elaborate statement to be made in the proposed Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, also known as anti-LGBTQI bill, currently before Parliament.
Expressing his support for the passage of the Bill, Prof Mante revealed that “it makes what we wanted to say those times (in the Criminal Code) more explicit now”.
“For example, those who belong to intersex group are protected in this bill because the bill understands that there are certain people who are born in such a way that they do have both two organs and the bill understands that and protects those people”.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante
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