The draft bill on “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values widely referred to as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill has sparked controversies creating sharp lines of dissention between those who are for and against the Bill.

The private members bill sponsored by eight legislators with support from the Clergy, The office of the Chief Imam and traditional authorities has captured both local and international media at a time persons inclined to same sex partner and other sexual orientations are demanding recognition and protection from violence and discrimination.

Although the Bill, has been laid in parliament and subsequently referred to the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee for consideration, I don’t see it to be the solution to this issue.

Among other things the bill seeks to impose fines and harsh prison sentences for homosexuals, LGBTI activists and persons who offer any medical or advocacy services to members of the LGBTQI community.

I insist the bill is not the solution to this practice because, although people who are caught with legally prohibited substances like cocaine and other narcotic drugs face prosecution, it hasn’t stopped people from using them; likewise, armed robbery.

Have we forgotten how Martin Luther King, Malcom X and other in the 1960s protested the rights of the Blacks in America? There were a lot of hurdles they faced being a minority, but they eventually emerged victorious, because they never gave up – they kept gathering themselves into a formidable force.

If there is one thing that I have learnt, it is that there is strength in unity. For instance in the Bible, God had to cause disunity in people who came together to do evil.

So whether the Bill is passed or not, nothing can stop the Lgbtq+ community legally, because they are also gathering themselves in the shadows and will eventually come out!

The motive for the minority pushing for the Bill is unclear to me though. It begs the question whether they are doing this to force the hand of the ruling NPP Government because they are in opposition or whether it is truly for the interest of posterity.

I do know one thing for sure though- It is bound to happen! No bill passed can stop them from exploiting their sexual fantasies, as no rules in Achimota School could stop the Rastafarian boys from entering the school.

I will never support homosexuality and all those inhuman practices associated with it- because it is an abomination to my beliefs. But a bill, is not the right approach to this issue!!

By: Gloria Ansu- Kyeremeh