Summary
Ghana’s Supreme Court has upheld the controversial anti-LGBTQ+ Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which criminalizes same-sex intimacy with penalties of six months to three years in prison.
The court ruled it premature to declare the bill unconstitutional as outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo has not signed it into law.
Akufo-Addo, set to leave office on January 7, has not clarified his intentions, and incoming President John Mahama has also remained noncommittal.
The bill has widespread domestic support but faces international condemnation for curtailing LGBTQ+ rights.
There’s continuing support from US evangelicals, who have been lobbying Ghanaian legislators to pass this bill for some time now: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/19/africa-uganda-evangelicals-homophobia-antigay-bill/