Ghana Supreme Court endorses anti-gay law from 1960
Justices remain mute about harsher anti-gay bill that Parliament passed in February
Attorneys walk in front of Ghana’s Supreme Court. Chris Stein photo courtesy of AFP and The Africa Report)In the midst of wrangling over whether Ghana will make its existing anti-homosexuality law more punitive, the nation’s Supreme Court issued a ruling in favor of Ghana’s old anti-homosexuality law, declaring that it did not violate the constitution.
The LGBTQ rights group Rightify Ghana reported:
A law lecturer at the University of Ghana petitioned the Supreme Court of Ghana to declare the law on “unnatural carnal knowledge” — Section 104 (1)(b) of the Criminal Offenses Act, 1960 (Act 29) — as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has okayed the law.
In a unanimous decision [on July 24], a seven-member panel of the court dismissed a writ challenging the constitutionality of [the old law, which has been on the books since 1960].
The 1960 law, enacted three years after Ghana became independent, extended a ban on homosexual activity that had been imposed in 1861, when Ghana was a British colony. The 1960 law provides a three-year prison sentence for “unnatural carnal knowledge”.
Rightify Ghana added: What most Ghanaians don’t know is that this law of “unnatural carnal knowledge” doesn’t have a sexual orientation on it, even though it is used against gays. Whether a person is gay or straight, unnatural carnal knowledge means it is illegal to have anal sex or oral sex/blowjob/BJ.
The court did not explain its reasoning for making the decision, but said it would do so.
When the court’s reasoning is known, that might shed light on whether the court will give its approval to the harsher anti-LGBTQ bill that Parliament approved in February. The court has announced an indefinite delay on considering that bill.
Until the Supreme Court rules, President Nana Akufo-Addo says he will not act on the bill, which needs his signature in order to become law.
If enacted, the bill — the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill — would expand on Ghana’s current law. The new bill would provide for three years in prison for people who:
- Identify as LGBTQ;
- Participate in gender-reassignment surgery; or
- Enter into a same-sex marriage or attend a same-sex wedding.
It would also impose prison sentences of up to 10 years on people who “promote” LGBTQ activity.
