Ghana’s parliament has again passed one of Africa’s most draconian anti-LGBTQ bills – but the chaotic circumstances of its passage have left even some of its supporters calling for it to be recalled.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which would make identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer punishable by up to three years in prison and proposes a “duty to report” prohibited acts to police, was passed on 29 May 2026, having bypassed the standard waiting period of one sitting day before a final reading.
The speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who was absent on the day, later said he was surprised by its passage, despite having long championed the legislation and encouraged its swift consideration.
An earlier version of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill was introduced in 2021 and passed by Parliament in 2024, but was not signed into law by former president Nana Akufo-Addo before he left office. Akufo-Addo had cited multiple Supreme Court challenges as a reason for not giving it assent, though Ghana’s Finance Ministry had also issued a stark warning that enacting the bill could cost the country $3.8bn in World Bank funding.
Last week’s parliamentary vote over the latest version of the bill, which was reintroduced in February 2025, has also been clouded by concerns over quorum. Much like the 2024 version, this bill’s passage appeared to flout rules requiring at least half of Ghana’s 276 MPs to be present for a decision of that nature.
Who the bill targets
The bill expands existing colonial-era laws criminalising gay sex, with provisions that define and criminalise queer people and their allies.
One of its harshest sections targets people who advocate for, fund or indirectly support LGBTQ rights – wording that pro-queer NGOs and public health groups say is aimed squarely at their work. Breaching this provision could lead to a prison sentence of between five and ten years.
It also places all people within Ghana’s jurisdiction under a duty to not only report queer people and their advocates, but to promote the bill’s core provisions in homes, schools, religious institutions and the media.
The potential impact goes beyond individuals. Sponsors of the bill have often singled out pro-queer NGOs and organisations providing public health support to LGBTQ people, including UNFPA (the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency) and the Ghana AIDS Commission, accusing them of supporting LGBTQ “activities” through their work.
During stakeholder engagements in April 2026, Sam George, one of the bill’s sponsors, accused the Ghana AIDS Commission of promoting gay sex by distributing lubricants. Like the media outlets that reported his comments, George ignored experts’ explanations of the epidemiological basis for such interventions.
That framing has led backers of the bill to lump public health bodies, rights organisations and other civil society groups under the section banning the “propaganda of, promotion and advocacy” for queer people.
What changed from the last version
Some of the risks to public health bodies, journalists and rights institutions have been narrowed by amendments.
Under the previous version of the law, groups such as the Ghana AIDS Commission, journalists whose reporting may advocate for queer communities, and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, which receives reports of abuses against LGBTQ people, could have been prosecuted or muzzled. But eight exemptions were added to allow certain bodies and professionals to continue their work.
Those exemptions cover legal representation, court submissions, academic research, communications by health organisations, professional medical services, journalism, public health functions and privileged communications under Ghana’s Evidence Act.
Other changes include broadening the duty to promote so-called family values from citizens to all people within Ghana’s jurisdiction; introducing “dignified regard” for intersex persons; adding new definitions for members of queer communities; and setting a 12-month deadline for a Legislative Instrument to aid implementation.
That deadline could become another test of the government’s commitment. The ministries responsible for health and social protection have been tasked with developing the instrument, but some MPs unsuccessfully pushed for the Ministry of Justice to also be involved – suggesting a lack of confidence in the assigned ministries.
Partisan theatre
The bill’s passage has exposed a series of partisan reversals.
When the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in opposition, it pushed for the harshest version of the bill, resisting any exemptions that could allow organisations to continue work, which it deemed to be “promotion and advocacy” for queer people. At the time, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, then leader of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus, warned against this, saying that some elements of the bill could fail constitutional tests and noted the vulne…
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