CDS Africa calls for comprehensive public education on anti-LGBTQ+ Bill

The Africa Center for De­mocracy and Socioeconomic Development (CDS Africa) is advocating a comprehensive pub­lic education on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill (2021) to cure “significant misinformation” it has discovered through a survey.

According to a Report on the survey, dubbed “Public sentiments towards the LGBTQ community and related practices in Ghana”, launched by the think- thank in Accra yesterday, many Ghanaians lack awareness of the objectives of the bill, though majority of citizens know about it and support its pas­sage into law.

Some of the misconceptions discovered during the one month research are that the bill is against same-sex friendships, meant to monitor sexual relations between couples in their bedrooms, or legal­ise homosexuality, while many did not know the provisions of the bill.

“Therefore, we call on the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to initiate edu­cational awareness campaigns about the bill,” said Celestina Damoah, the Advocacy and Public Engage­ment Coordinator of CDS Africa, expressing the hope that it would bring clarity amongst the public to inform better appreciation and review if necessary.

Involving 1, 285 respondents ran­domly selected from all 16 regions, the survey conducted last month, aimed to measure public opinion about LGBTQ activities in the country and the level of awareness about the bill.

Using the mixed method research design, it also aimed to access whether or not Ghanaians support the delay in the bill’s assent and also impact of the bill on democracy and economic well-being if enacted.

Ms Damoah in her presentation of the findings of the research, said 76. 5 per cent of respondents know about the Anti-LGBTQ Bill, with 78.2 per cent of respondents, supporting its passage into law.

She said about half of the respondents (49.5 per cent) were indifferent towards the punishment spelt out in the Bill, while more than two-thirds (69.1 per cent) of respondents did not agree with the idea of legalising LGBTQ and its related activities in the country.

The survey also found out that 72.6 per cent of the respondents wanted the president to go ahead and assent to the Bill despite the pending court case with 55.8 per cent of the respondents of the view that there would be no economic repercussions for Ghana if the Bill was signed into law.

On other recommendation, Ms Damoah said the “excessively punitive nature of the Anti-gay bill should be taken into account, as it leans towards harshness rather than focusing on rehabilitation and reform.

“While a minority of the popula­tion under examination did not sup­port the advancement of LGBTQ activities, they expressed opposition to the severe treatment of individu­als within the community”.

She also advocated amendment or broader consultation to review the provisions of the bill to prevent a clash with existing laws of Ghana.

“Economic and political ram­ifications should not be ignored considering warnings from the international community about the bill,” she noted.

 BY JONATHAN DONKOR

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