The Parliament of Ghana approved this Friday the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, popularly known as the “anti-gay law”. The regulation maintains penalties of up to three years in prison for same-sex sexual relations.
Likewise, it establishes penalties of three to five years for those who finance, promote, or sponsor activities linked to the LGTBI+ community. Among the most debated provisions is the obligation to report to the authorities any homosexual act of which one becomes aware.
The proposal also modifies the extradition legislation, including the offenses contemplated in this regulation as susceptible to being claimed by Ghanaian justice.
Exemptions introduced in the new version
The approved text incorporates modifications compared to the previous version:
- Journalists and media are exempt from sanctions when reporting on LGTBI+ issues in the exercise of their duties.
- Lawyers who offer legal representation or advice to individuals in the community will not be punished.
- Health professionals, including doctors and psychologists, will be able to provide care or counseling services without risk of sanction.
The amendments generated criticism from sectors of the parliamentary opposition, who considered that they reflect legal deficiencies in the original proposal and the need for substantial corrections.
Approval process and submission to the president
The bill was approved by voice vote, after receiving the unanimous support of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, as reported by the first vice-president, Bernard Ahiafor.
The legislation will now be sent to the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, who has seven working days to decide on its promulgation. The president faces pressure from religious leaders and the National Democratic Congress to approve the law.
Background and international context
The first version of the regulation was approved in February 2024 during the term of former president Nana Akufo-Addo, but the process was suspended due to appeals questioning its constitutionality, preventing its promulgation. With the closure of the legislature, that version lost its validity, so it had to be reconsidered by Parliament.
Currently, more than sixty countries maintain laws that criminalize same-sex relationships, with about half of them in Africa, many of them inherited from colonial legislation.