Ghana’s first openly transgender singer, Angel Maxine has relocated to Germany following fears about her safety and the growth of her music career amid the recent passage of an anti-gay bill, which makes identifying as trans illegal in Ghana.
In a video on X, Maxine said she was disappointed in the music industry, adding that she had faced a lot of rejection as a transwoman in the industry.
“I had to leave Ghana so I could find a safe space where I could continue to do my work. As a musician, I had people who did not want to associate with me because I was a transwoman, Being an openly transgender woman in Ghana is a warfare,” she said.
Hoping to see a better Ghana where LGBTIQ+ people would also feel safe to live, grow and thrive in the country, transgender musician and activist, Angel Maxine @angelmaxinetv shares her lived experienced and challenges she went through in the country.
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📽️ @enriqueanarte @Openly pic.twitter.com/m0lmEezRqk
— Rightify Ghana (@RightifyGhana) April 9, 2024
Before moving to Germany, Maxine had been one of the vocal voices against Ghana’s controversial anti-gay bill. At the time when the bill was still being debated in the legislative house, she took a bold move to record and upload a number of songs on You Tube as her way of showing dissent.
While identifying as LGBTQ+ is already illegal in Ghana, the country’s Parliament in February passed a bill specifically criminalising the practice or any kind of advocacy.
With concerns about the implications of the passed legislation, President Nana Akufo-Addo is yet to sign it into law as the bill’s constitutionality has been challenged at the Supreme Court.
