The fears of the Ghanaian LGBTQ community.(Final Production)

      IS TEN YEARS IN PRISON GOING TO MAKE  A DIFFERENCE?

A flag of Ghana and the LGBTQ+ community.

                                                     ( Source: The Guardian).

  " People are not going to stop whatever they are doing." This is what Stephanie  a member of the LGBTQ said , when asked if the bill will change anything.

 The lesbian, gay, bi, transsexual, queer + community popularly known as the LGBTQ+ community, has been around for a long time but it became more popular in Ghana in the year 2019.

 Before the anti-gay bill came about, being a member of the LGBTQ+ was illegal but they still had their freedom. That will not be the case anymore if this law to jail anyone caught in the act for 10 years is passed.

Members of the LGBTQ + community in Ghana, have always lived behind closed doors with the fear of being bullied, assaulted, verbally abused amongst others. As a matter of fact, a lot of them have been abused one way or the other because of how they look, how they walk or even how they act or just the fact that they are gay. "NO, no one cares about how we feel or what  we go through. All people care about is that the members of the community are possessed by evil spirits or are mentally ill." This is what another member says when asked  about how they are treated.

An image of two sad lesbians.
 ( Source:  The Guardian)

The practice has always been seen as an abomination and a sin in the eyes of Ghanaians and the Ghanaian culture as a whole.  Even though the members of the LGBTQ had freedom to move about their daily lives, they always looked over their shoulders  because they always have to make sure they are not noticed.

A protest flyer for the LGBTQ community in Ghana.
 ( source: Facebook)

"Has anyone of the MP’s sat down to think of how this bill is going to affect us? Our right to live will be taken away from us if this bill is approved. "According to some members , the fear they had of being abused will increase even though they are already being abused in so many ways. It will be worse this time and they will have to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives.

An audio of a gay man maltreated

 All that the members of the community want is to be left alone because although they live in fear,  "passing the bill  is going to make our lives more unbearable than it already is, leaving some of us suicidal, depressed amongst others." They said.

A march for the bill against the Ghanaian LGBTQ  community.
 ( Source : africanews.com)

Let us hear what one of the members has to say about the bill.

                                                            A video from a Ghanaian on TikTok.

Before anyone decides to maltreat any member of the LGBTQ+ community or before the bill is passed,  let us try to put ourselves in their shoes or imagine any of them being our loved ones and decide if it is right to treat them how they are being treated or not. Or if the bill is deemed fit to be passed or not.

A flag of Ghana and the LGBTQ community. 
 (Source: Alamy stock photo)

BY: Yehoda Jeffey