Passage of Anti-LGBTQ Bill: Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has this to say
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The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has advised the President, Nana Akufo Addo to have a careful look at the necessary amendments to the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly referred to as the Anti-LGBTQ Bill, before assenting his powers thereof.
The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, in an interview on Citi News monitored by Radiooneghana.com hammered on the importance of focusing on reforms aimed at reintegrating individuals into society.
He said, “The president is the father of the nation, and we believe he will do what is in the best interest of the country. I cannot imagine the president not seeing the good in this law. He may make certain corrections on reformation and reintegration of victims, but I don’t think the president will say he will not assent to it when he knows an overwhelming majority is in support of this law.”
Speaking further, Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi opined that, incarceration, which is part of the penalties for persons who engage in the practice or support, sponsor or promote the practice of the any LGBTQ+ activities, is not the way to go considering the current state of the Ghanaian prisons. He added that,
In the views of the most revered Sunyani Diocesean Bishop of the Catholic Church, putting persons in prison based on their sexual orientation could potentially exacerbate such activities.
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He emphasised the need for more reformative and corrective sanctions.
“We think that in the case of this particular law and the way it is being implemented, being placed in prison as the punishment that they have chosen, it is not going to solve the problem. Because you see if you round up same-sex people and you know our prisons, they are going to end up in the same room and what is going to prevent them from going through these activities in the prison?”
“And you are not going to put them there forever because they are going to be there for three months to six months. And then they practice this and come out as more experts at it than when you sent them there. Then you release them back into society. So, what is going to happen?”
