Lawmakers in Ghana have passed a bill that would punish people found to have promoted “LGBTQ activities” or advocated for LGBTQ rights with prison sentences of up to 10 years.
The bill, which is expected to be signed into law by President John Dramani Mahama, bans “promoting, sponsoring, or advocating” LGBTQ acts, as well as funding LGBTQ groups and activities, according to The Associated Press.
The legislation also imposes a three-year prison sentence for people who engage in same-sex activity and a five-year prison sentence for anyone who operates a brothel for prohibited sexual activity.
Additionally, under the bill, people who are aware of same-sex activity or LGBTQ-related advocacy have a “duty to report” it to police or other authorities and can face up to three years in prison for failing to do so.
Same-sex relations are already criminalized in Ghana under a colonial-era law prohibiting “unnatural carnal knowledge.”
The new legislation expands those restrictions by criminalizing LGBTQ advocacy and any activity or speech that could be interpreted as encouraging or condoning same-sex behavior — even in a public health context.
An earlier version of the legislation passed in 2024 but was never signed into law by then-President Nana Akufo-Addo. At the time, the country’s Finance Ministry warned that enacting the measure could trigger the loss of international financing, potentially jeopardizing up to $3.8 billion in World Bank funding and a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan package needed to help Ghana recover from an economic crisis.
But despite that setback, religious groups continued to push for the bill’s passage, arguing that the restrictions are necessary to protect Ghanaian family values and cultural norms — a stance that presumes homosexuality is “contagious” or that same-sex attraction can be acquired through indoctrination.
More than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries have laws criminalizing same-sex activity, with penalties ranging from fines and prison sentences to life imprisonment or even death. Capital punishment is prescribed for certain same-sex offenses in countries such as Somalia, Uganda, Mauritania, and parts of Nigeria.
Critics argue that the law violates constitutional rights and will encourage persecution and discrimination against sexual and gender minorities. Human Rights Watch condemned the bill and urged the government to “uphold the international legal protections that guarantee every Ghanaian the rights to equality, nondiscrimination, freedom of expression, and privacy.”
Spain has overtaken Malta as the European country with the strongest LGBTQ rights protections, ending the island nation's decade-long run at the top of ILGA Europe's annual rankings.
Each year, ILGA Europe publishes its "Rainbow Map" and LGBTQ rights index, ranking 49 European countries based on their laws and policies affecting LGBTQ people. Countries receive scores from zero to 100 percent and are assigned colors along the rainbow spectrum on ILGA's interactive map.
The rankings are supported by ILGA's "Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI People in Europe and Central Asia," which examines how a country's laws and policies affect the daily lives of LGBTQ people. The findings are verified by more than 250 activists, legal professionals, and policy specialists across the region.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill requiring federally funded public schools to "out" transgender students to their parents if school officials learn the students identify as a gender different from their assigned sex at birth.
H.R. 2616, the "Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act" -- dubbed the "Don't Say Trans" bill by critics -- passed 217-198, with eight Democrats joining Republicans and one independent in support of the measure.
Sponsored by U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Burgess Owens (R-Utah), the bill requires public schools to obtain parental permission before using names or pronouns that do not align with a student's assigned sex at birth or recognizing a student's gender identity.
"I think we have an inherent human need to gather and form connections with people that are like us, particularly as a non-majority group," says Rachel Karp. "As long as queer people are not the majority, I think there will be a desire and a need for in-person queer spaces."
Karp, co-producer of the podcast Cruising, is the author of the forthcoming The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, which profiles many of the approximately thirty or so remaining lesbian bars in the United States. The 30-year-old recalls how the podcast and book were both inspired by news reports during the COVID pandemic about the closure of bars and restaurants that were unable to keep operating due to government-mandated lockdowns.
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