Ghana Parliament Passes New Anti-LGBTQ Bill

Ghana Parliament has approved a new anti-LGBTQ bill imposing jail terms for same-sex acts and promotion of LGBTQ activities.

Ghana’s Parliament on Friday approved a new bill that criminalizes the promotion of LGBTQ activities, marking part of a wider crackdown on sexual minorities across West Africa.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, was passed through a voice vote after the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee unanimously recommended its adoption, according to First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor.

The bill was introduced last year shortly after President John Dramani Mahama assumed office. Legislators from Mahama’s National Democratic Congress were encouraged by religious leaders and supporters of the legislation to back the bill, increasing pressure on the president to sign it into law.

An earlier version of the bill had been passed in 2024 under former President Nana Akufo-Addo, but it faced legal challenges and was never signed into law.

The newly approved bill retains the current punishment of up to three years in prison for same-sex sexual acts. It also prohibits the “funding, sponsorship or promotion” of LGBTQ activities, with offenders facing prison sentences ranging from three to five years.

In addition, the legislation introduces a “duty to report” LGBTQ-related activities to police or other authorities, with those who fail to report facing up to three years in jail.

The bill also amends Ghana’s Extradition Act of 1960, making offences under the proposed law extraditable.

West Africa has recently witnessed a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation. In March, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed a law doubling the maximum prison sentence for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years while also criminalizing the promotion of homosexuality.

Last September, lawmakers in Burkina Faso voted to criminalize same-sex sexual acts for the first time, including behaviour considered likely to promote homosexual practices.