US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller has expressed deep concern over the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill (anti-gay bill).
Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, passed the new bill, which could send anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ to prison for up to three years.
The bill also imposes a maximum five-year jail term unto persons who promote, sponsor or support the activities of LGBTQ+
According to Mr. Miller, the new measure will harm Ghana’s international reputation as well as its economic development.
“The Ghanaian parliament’s passage of a bill criminalizing members of the LGBTQI+ community imperils the rights of all its people, its international reputation, and its economic development,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He added that if President Akufo-Addo assents to the bill, it will ruin Ghana’s long-standing prestige of being a tolerant nation.
“Ghana’s laudable tradition of tolerance will be undermined if this bill becomes law.”
The Ghanaian parliament’s passage of a bill criminalizing members of the LGBTQI+ community imperils the rights of all its people, its international reputation, and its economic development. Ghana’s laudable tradition of tolerance will be undermined if this bill becomes law.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) February 28, 2024
The bill has been sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law