By Yvonne Atilego.
The brouhaha surrounding the Anti-Gay Bill rages, as panelists on our Current Affairs Programme FOCUS continue to dissect issues around the Bill without arriving at a logical conclusion. While some of them are calling for the Constitution and rights of gay persons to be considered before the passage of the Bill, others insist the Bill should go beyond the rights of such people. A former Director, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Professor Takyiwaa Manuh noted that the Constitution grants rights to every citizen irrespective of their sexual orientation. According to her, the Ghanaian culture and norms do not come to play with regard to the Bill.
“The Constitution grants that protection to everybody including non-Ghanaians in Ghana irrespective of their sexual orientation. It doesn’t talk about heterosexuals, it doesn’t talk about homosexuals, it talks about people and that is what we want the debate to focus on.”
“The fact that lesbian, gay people, they are Ghanaians and they are persons, that is fundamental. The Constitution, not any aspect of Ghanaian culture, is the supreme law of the land and the measuring rod against which any Bill must first be evaluated. So when we go to Parliament, however, valuable Ghanaian culture is, Parliament does not swear vitality to that, it swears vitality to the Constitution.”
“We are saying that, Ghanaian culture norms, no matter how widely shared, are themselves subject to the Constitution. That’s why the Constitution can vitiate cultural practice because it is against the Constitution.”
“The bill that has been presented is not worthy that we have laws, the criminal offense act. Let us go back and look at those laws if they are deficient, let us fight them, if there is ambiguity, let’s deal with them.”
MP for Ningo Prampram Sam George however disagreed with Professor Takyiwaah Manuh. According to him, the aspect of the Constitution which talks about human rights does not include sexual preference. He said the Anti-Gay Bill is in conformity with the Constitution and will see the light of day.
“Our Bill is in absolute conformity with the Constitution and so as sponsors of the Bill, we are minded from the onset that the test of the Bill not necessarily be the same as we submitted to Parliament, however, amendment to Bill has made it stronger.”
“Amendment to Bills do not affect the object of a Bill because every Bill has a purpose. Now, let’s settle on one thing, the Constitution. It gives the basis on which you cannot discriminate against the persons. Sexual preference is not one of those rights. It gives you race, ethnicity, religion, gender, homosexuality is not gender. Homosexuality is a sexual preference.’’
“In fact, the European Court of Justice have ruled the homosexuality is not a human right. So if it is not a human right, how are you violating them? You are violating something that doesn’t exist? Let us also be minded, our Bill simply focuses on protecting Ghanaian family values and post-prescribing activity of individuals that are inimical to our customary lives, our Bill deals specifically with the Constitution.”
“The Constitution is clear. Their bases for which we can curtail rights even those rights exist’’, he said.
Meanwhile, the Former Attorney General Ayikoi Otoo says there is more to LGBTQI than the homosexuality aspect. According to him the debate on their rights needs to be looked at because those rights are not absolute.
“It appears that those people are looking at this Bill as something that is against homosexuality but if you look at the term used LGBTQI+ means to me, it goes beyond having sex and therefore, have to look at the whole…talk about LGBTQI+ and all are becoming prevalent in our society and are these things are against our culture. I think that’s where we should start from. When you go into the LGBTQI+ case, then you begin to say that the problem is more serious them this whole idea of just sexual orientation,” according to Mr. Ayikoi Otoo.
Meanwhile, Ningo Prampram MP, Sam George (for the LGBT Bill), and Gender Activist, Professor Takyiwaa Manuh (against the LGBT Bill) who were in studio for the program, were literally at each other’s throat, strongly arguing out their positions on the Anti-LGBTQ Bill.
