Crackdown on LGBTI in Ghana – a focus on religion
Webtalk
Guests
- Davis Mac-Iyalla: IDNOWA, founder and executive director, member of the Anglican Church
- Lawrence Shone Edem Adjei: IDNOWA, intersex activist and active in the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics
- Arthur Joseph, IDNOWA, member of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana
- Moderator: Dirk Ludigs, journalist
IDNOWA is advocating for support in the fight against the bill titled "Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values, 2021".
We will discuss the role of religion in the ongoing crackdown in Ghana. How do faith-based groups and churches react to violence against LGBT? How does IDNOWA engage in favor of LGBTI people and their human rights? What is the role of right-wing US or uropean groups? What should the international community do and not do?
Please register here before Dec 3, noon
All registered participants will receive the zoom link a few hours before the event on the same day. This web event will take place in English and is aimed at activists, students, scholars, politicians, everyone with an interest in international relations and human rights for LGBTI people.
Background
In January 2021, LGBT+ Rights Ghana celebrated the opening of a community space for LGBT communities in Accra. This sparked intense and negative reporting in the Ghanaian media and the public. Media called for the arrest and prosecution of the activists involved. In April, participants in a seminar on LGBTI human rights were arrested by police in the town of Ho. The Ho 21 were detained for weeks, among them were also some members of IDNOWA.
In summer, a homophobic “family values” bill was introduced into Parliament. UN human rights experts have urged Ghana´s government to reject the proposed bill. They stated that this proposed law criminalises LGBTI people and anyone who supports their human rights. It attempts to deny human rights defenders their basic human rights and it would legitimize violence against LGBTI people. The Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Council of Christian Churches in Ghana publicly support the bill.
Further information and links:
- How a US group with links to the far-right may have influenced a crackdown on Ghana's LGBTQ community
- Report by Human Rights Watch
- The bill
- National catholic secretariat: Comments on the response from the Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa
- Communiqué by the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) and Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) “We, the leadership of CCG and GPCC are excited at the progress of the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021
- GCBC on Homosexuality
- Denial by the Archbishop Naameh
- The Archbishop of Canterbury´s statement of concern
