The Parliament of Ghana, on Friday, May 29, 2026, passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, popularly known as the anti-gay bill.
This is the second time the bill has been passed by the House. The bill was first passed in 2024, but it was not acted upon by then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo before the expiration of the 8th Parliament.
It now requires the assent of President John Dramani Mahama to become a law that criminalises homosexual activities.
Which homosexual or gay activities would this law prohibit, and what penalties would they attract if violated?
Section 3 of the proposed law touches on the activities that are prohibited and the penalties that they would attract if violated.
The first part of Section 3 prohibits sexual intercourse with a person of the same sex or an animal. Additionally, it also outlaws marriage between people of the same sex or with an animal or an object.
It also forbids people from holding themselves out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, pansexual, ally, or non-binary, among others.
The second part of Section 3 of the anti-gay bill states that persons who engage in the prohibited activities commit a crime.
The punishment for the crime ranges from a jail term of two months to five years and/or the equivalent fines.
“A person who contravenes paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), or (g) of subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than seven hundred and fifty penalty units and not more than five thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than two months and not more than three years or both,” Section 3(2) of the anti-gay bill reads.
Section 3(3) also defines what constitutes a sexual activity in the Act.
“(3) For purposes of this section, ‘sexual intercourse’ occurs where a person
(a) penetrates the anus or mouth of a person of the same sex with the penis of that person or another device;
(b) penetrates or stimulates the vagina or anus of a person of the same sex by use of any object or device;
(c) penetrates the anus, mouth, vagina, or other bodily opening of an animal by use of the penis of the person or any other object or device; or
(d) allows penetration of the anus, mouth, vagina, or other bodily opening of that person by an animal for sexual gratification,” it reads.
Read the full details of Section 3 below:
Prohibition of LGBTTQAP+ and related activities
3. (1) A person shall not
(a) engage in a
(i) sexual intercourse with a person of the same sex;
(ii) sexual intercourse with an animal; or
(iii) pansexual activity;
(b) marry or purport to marry a person who is of the same sex
as that person;
(c) knowingly marry or purport to marry a person who has
undergone gender or sex reassignment, except in the case
of a person who has undergone a surgical procedure to
correct a biological abnormality, including intersex;
(d) marry or purport to marry an animal or object;
(e) hold out as
(i) a lesbian,
(ii) a gay,
(iii) a bisexual
(iv) a transgender,
(v) a transsexual,
(vi) a queer,
(vii) a pansexual,
(viii) an ally,
(ix) a non-binary, or
(x) any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary
to the binary categories of male and female;
(f) provide or participate in the provision of
(i) a surgical procedure for sex or gender reassignment; or
(ii) any other procedure that is intended to create a
sexual category other than the sexual category of a
person determined at birth except in the case of
correcting a biological abnormality, including
intersex; or
(g) undergo
(i) a surgical procedure for sex or gender reassignment;
or
(ii) any other procedure that is intended to create a
sexual category other than the sexual category of
the person determined at birth except in the case of
correcting a biological abnormality, including
intersex.
(2) A person who contravenes paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), or
(g) of subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary
conviction to a fine of not less than seven hundred and fifty penalty units
and not more than five thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment
of not less than two months and not more than three years or both.
(3) For purposes of this section, “sexual intercourse” occurs where
a person
(a) penetrates the anus or mouth of a person of the same sex
with the penis of that person or other device;
(b) penetrates or stimulates the vagina or anus of a person of
the same sex by use of any object or device;
(c) penetrates the anus, mouth, vagina or other bodily opening
of an animal by use of the penis of the person or any other
object or device; or
(d) allows penetration of the anus, mouth, vagina or other
bodily opening of that person by an animal
for sexual gratification.
(4) This section shall be read together with subsection (2) of
section 104 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
Discussion about this post