LGBT Rights in Ghana - Living Conditions

Living Conditions

In Accra, very few gay and gay-friendly bars can be found, and the gay scene in Accra is considerably less noticeable than in Western countries. In Ghana's other large cities, such as Kumasi and Tema, gay social life exists, but on a less noticeable level. In rural areas, homosexuality is generally not accepted and many rural Ghanaians do not accept that homosexuality exists.

According to a 19 August 2004 Afrol News report, Prince MacDonald‚ the leader of the organisation for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals in Ghana, commented that "there are lots and lots of people in our prison home who have been caught by this unfriendly law". He said that the "police beat and punish people who are found to be gays".

On 1 September 2006, the BBC reported that the Ghanaian government had banned an LGBT rights conference that was alleged to be taking place on 4 September at the Accra International Conference Centre and at a venue in the city of Koforidua. Minister of Information and National Origin Kwamena Bartels said, "The government does not condone any such activity which violently offends the culture, morality and heritage of the entire people of Ghana. Supporting such a conference, or even allowing it, will encourage that tendency which the law forbids. Government would like to make it absolutely clear that it shall not permit the proposed conference anywhere in Ghana. Unnatural carnal knowledge is illegal under our criminal code. Homosexuality, lesbianism and bestiality are therefore offences under the laws in Ghana." The conference eventually appeared to be a hoax.

On 21 July 2011, Paul Evans Aidoo, the Western Region Minister, ordered all gay people in the west of the country to be rounded up and arrested and called on landlords and tenants to inform on people they suspected of being gay.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2011, then President John Atta Mills pledged to never initiate or support any attempt to legalize homosexuality in Ghana. This was in response to British Prime Minister David Cameron's comment that the United Kingdom would consider cutting off aid to any country that failed to recognize gay rights. Mills said that Cameron "does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially where their societal norms and ideals are different from those that exist" in Britain.

The U.S. Department of State's 2011 Human Rights Report found that,

LGBT persons faced widespread discrimination, as well as police harassment and extortion attempts. Gay men in prison were often subjected to sexual and other physical abuse. In June 2010 more than 1,000 protesters in Takoradi, Western Region, participated in a peaceful rally against reports of gay and lesbian activities in their city. This was reportedly the first such protest in the country. In May 2010 an HIV/AIDS training workshop was held in Takoradi for health- care workers. After the workshop, The Daily Graphic announced that 8,000 gay persons had been "registered" in the Western and Central Regions. However, experts in the field denied that there had been any such "registration". After the workshop there was significant negative reporting in the media about homosexuality. In a June 2010 interview with The Daily Graphic, the Western Region minister called on the government to take steps to combat homosexuality. He included the possibility of police raids on locales frequented by gay men and lesbians, efforts by community leaders to "wean young people" away from homosexuality, and a public condemnation by the government. However, no arrests of persons were made in connection with his comments by year's end, and he did not repeat his call. It was reported that four men who worked within the community of gay men were arrested in May 2010 in connection with an alleged sexual assault and were later charged with sodomy. The case was first brought to the Takoradi Circuit Court on August 24; however, it had not been heard by year's end.

In February 2012, President Mills reiterated the Ghana government's stance on LGBT rights, stating that,

We have made our positions well known. Ghanaian societies frown on homosexuality ... if the people's interest is that we do not legalize homosexuality, I don't see how any responsible leader will decide to go against the wishes of his people. I heard what the secretary general said and I wasn't surprised because of where he is coming from, but we only listened to him. We have all made our positions well known. Nobody can say in Ghana we discriminate against homosexuality, there is no witch-hunting on homosexuality ... that is their own problem so we only listen and move on. The secretary general has made his views known and we have also made our views known so the value is the same.