A seven-member Supreme Court panel, presided over by Justice Lovelace Avril Johnson, unanimously rejected a petition against the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill that was filed by broadcast journalist and attorney Richard Dela Sky.
Sky had requested that the bill, which has sparked a heated national debate, be declared void. The court, however, denied his petition, upholding the constitutionality of the proposed anti-LGBTQI legislation’s legislative process.
The contentious bill seeks to make advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) causes illegal. It would penalize those who fund or promote LGBTQI-related activities, as well as those who indirectly support them, if it were to become law.
Supporters contend that foreign ideologies are undermining Ghanaian cultural and family values, which is why the bill is required to preserve them. The bill’s detractors, including human rights organizations, argue that it violates basic human rights like equality before the law, freedom of expression, and association.
A separate petition submitted by equality and inclusion activist Amanda Odoi was also part of the legal challenge. Odoi and Sky both argued that the bill’s passage was unconstitutional because Parliament did not meet the constitutional quorum requirements of Articles 102 and 104 during the legislative process.
