LGBTQI Vote Didn’t Relate to Support- Foreign Affairs Ministry

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided insight into the vote at the 59th Session of the Human Rights Council, explaining the country’s stance on the matter.

In a statement, it said there was no vote on the support of LGBTQI as peddled.

Rather the vote related to the renewal of the Mandate of the Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

“The question before the Council was whether persons who identify as LGBTQI should be protected against violence and discrimination or not. It was not about support for LGBTQI rights.”

It said the country abstained in the vote, consistent with Chapter 5, Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution, which specifically prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed, or social and economic status.

“The resolution requests the Independent Expert to continue to report annually on the implementation of the mandate to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly per their respective programmes of work.”

It further cited part of the country’s Permanent Representative’s speech which it said unequivocally clarified Ghana’s position on the subject.

“Our understanding of the traditional definition of gender is the male sex or female sex, especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences. Similarly, sex in our view refers to either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans: and most other living things are divided and used for statistical purposes and policy! monitoring.”

The Ministry affirmed that the Government will not act in any manner to undermine this position.

Source: https://opemsuo.com/author/hajara-fuseini/