The Ghanaian parliament passes an anti-gay law with prison sentences

The Ghanaian parliament passed a law on Wednesday A bill that would further restrict LGBTQ rights by imposing prison sentences on those who identify as gay or form LGBTQ groups, measures that Amnesty International called among the strictest legislation on the African continent.

If the legislation is signed into law by President Nana Akufo-Addo, it would mean that people convicted of identifying as homosexual could be sentenced to up to three years in prison, those deemed “promoters” of LGBTQ issues, five years, and those guilty of gay sex would receive five years instead of the three years under previous legislation.

The bill is the latest in a wave of anti-gay legislation passed in Africa: Tanzania, Niger and Namibia have tightened such laws in recent years, while Uganda has passed an anti-gay law that includes the death penalty.

According to Amnesty, 31 countries on the continent criminalize consensual sexual activity between people of the same sex. Many have experienced an increase in homophobic attitudes, behavior and rhetoric in recent years, the rights group said in a report last year.

“There are still so many countries in Africa where being LGBTQ is considered evil or un-African,” said Linda Nduri, a Kenya-based Africa campaign manager at All Out, a nonprofit organization.

Both major political parties in Ghana support the bill, but its passage was delayed in recent days by changes proposed by a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, to make it less harsh.

He said earlier this month that Parliament should decide whether people convicted under the anti-gay law should be given counseling and community service instead of serving time in prison. But some of his colleagues in parliament shouted him down and said prison terms should be imposed.