Ghanaian human rights advocate, Texas Kadir Moro, took to the streets on Monday, April 15, 2024, in a solo demonstration against the passage of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
He vehemently opposed the bill, describing it as excessively punitive and advocated against the imprisonment of gay individuals.
Moro’s march started at Obra Spot in Kwame Nkrumah Circle, through other principal streets in the capital with placards adorned with poignant messages and quotations from both the Bible and Quran and passionately denounced the hypocrisy of religious extremists supporting the bill.
Among the inscriptions on Moro’s placards were: “Proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family bill; the pot calling the kettle black,” “Send homosexuals to churches and mosques for prayer and deliverance and not the prison for propagation of the act,” and “If you fear Ghana will incur the wrath of God because of homosexuality; read Quran verse 17:32 and Leviticus 20:10-12.”
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The demonstration ended at the Independence Square, where Moro addressed the media, stressing the need for fairness in society’s treatment of homosexuals, citing the prevalence of adultery and fornication without repercussions.
“Yes, we agree that homosexuality is a sin abhorred by our Creator to the highest degree. Equally so is fornication and adultery, which our society has embraced so much that men are happy to flaunt their side chicks and women their side boos,” Moro stated further quoting the Quran. “In the noble Quran sura 24, a woman and a man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you. In their case. The punishment described by Allah, if you believe in Allah in the last day. This is for unmarried persons guilty of the above crime. But if married persons commit this, then the punishment is to stone them to death.”
Moro further quoted the Bible to defend his stance, saying, “In Leviticus chapter 20, verse 10, a man that commits adultery with another man’s wife, the adulterer, and the adulterers will be surely put to death.” He added another scripture, stating, “In Deuteronomy 22 verse 22 says if a man be found lying with a woman with a husband, then both of them shall die.” He urged Ghanaians to be consistent, fair, and unbiased on the decisions of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, asking, “I ask, tomorrow if an individual in Ghana wishes to criminalise sex before marriage and side chick and side boos, will the clergy and the entire nation support it like we’re for LGBTQ+ bill? Let’s be consistent, fair, and unbiased on the decisions we make as a society.”
Ghana’s parliament on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, unanimously passed the controversial legislation which prohibits lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalises their promotion, advocacy, and funding in the country.
The anti-LGBTQ bill, if assented to by the President, will, among other things, impose sanctions on willful promotion and engaging in LGBTQ activities in the country.
The bill proscribed a minimum sentence of six months and a maximum of three years for persons caught in the act of same-sex activities.
However, persons found guilty of willful promotion or advocating or funding the activities of LGBTQ will, upon conviction, face three years minimum and five years maximum imprisonment.
