Support the anti-LGBTQ Bill- Haruna Iddrisu rallies other MPs

Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, has encouraged his colleagues to support the contentious anti-LGBTQ+ Bill in Parliament. Hon. Iddrisu said the Bill has full bipartisan support at a news conference on Friday, October 15, 2021, and that all MPs were united in “holding high the moral flag of our country”

He views the consideration of the bill as make-or-break for Ghana’s moral fabric. “Certain issues of significance either make or put asunder the collective unity of people of a nation at critical moments in its history, and the Parliament of Ghana must stand the litmus test.”

He sees the bill’s consideration as a make-or-break moment for Ghana’s moral fiber. “Every accompanying sentence, we will insist on a vote, including amendments to every provision,” Mr. Iddrisu said. “We will do what is legally needful within the 1992 constitution clause by clause, and we want every member of Parliament to get counted and to stand to be counted as reflecting the aspirations of Ghanaian people.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Iddrisu’s Majority Party counterpart, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, was less enthusiastic about the Bill, saying that Parliament should ensure that citizens’ rights are respected.

While he stated that democracy is about majority rule, he noted that this “doesn’t imply we should walk on other people’s rights.”

“The appropriate thing will be done,” Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu remarked further on Parliament’s consideration of the Bill.

Parliament is currently receiving memoranda on the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill ahead of its resumption later in October. While data indicates that most Ghanaians are in favour of the Bill, it has face criticism from renowned artists and academics.

People of the same sex who engage in sexual behavior might face up to 10(ten) years in prison under the bill. If the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021 is signed into law, several acts of support for the LGBTQ+ community will be criminalized.