We’ll Pass Anti-LGBTQ Bill As Easter Gift to Ghanaians- Sam George
Hon Sam George, a sponsor of the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, says passing the bill into law will be lawmakers’ Easter gift to the entire country.
According to the Ningo Prampram Constituency representative in Parliament, the bill is currently under consideration of which 50% of the work has been done.
Though the work on the bill has stalled due to the Parliamentary break, he assured that it will resume as soon the august House resumes next week.
“The bill is going through consideration which is literally the last stage for the third reading for an amendment to the bill either by committee or sponsors or in conjunction between sponsors and committee. Once those are considered, we then proceed to debate those amendments on the floor.
“When the bill came, it came with about 34 amendments to the House. We have had about another 10 amendments during the process and I know that we are going to Clause 25. We had done up to Clause 11 before the House rose. We are almost 50% done with consideration. Hopefully, another two weeks after parliament resumes we will be done with consideration. The third stage of reading is just a procedural thing. It’s read and the bill is passed,” he said in an interview on Eyewitness News monitored by opemsuo.com.
He anticipates that the bill will be passed in the yet-to-commence fourth session of the eighth Parliament.
“We believe that in the first session which is about to run from 6th February {to} March, we should be able to pass the bill before Easter. It should be an Easter gift to the country.”
The anti-gay bill introduced by some Members of Parliament in 2021 seeks to among other things institute three to five years of imprisonment for engaging in same-sex intercourse; five to 10 years of imprisonment for anyone who produces, procures, or distributes material deemed to be promoting LGBT+ activities.
It also seeks to institute 6 months to 1-year imprisonment for a public show of amorous relations between people of the same sex; a ban on sponsoring LGBT+ groups; a ban on adoption and fostering for LGBT+ potential parents; prohibition of same-sex marriage; 6 months to 3 years imprisonment for anyone who harasses someone accused of being LGBT+ and others.
