Gay in ghana
Recent studies in Ghana indicate societal resistance to LGBTQ+ rights.
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Censorship of LGBT issues in Ghana
?Censorship of LGBT issues in Ghana is no censorship.
Legal recognition of genderfluid gender in Ghana
?Legal recognition of genderqueer gender in Ghana is not legally recognized.
LGBT employment discrimination in Ghana
?LGBT housing discrimination in Ghana
?LGBT housing discrimination in Ghana is unknown.
Same-sex adoption in Ghana
?Same-sex adoption in Ghana is single only.
Intersex infant surgery in Ghana
?Intersex infant surgery in Ghana is not banned.
Serving openly in military in Ghana
?Serving openly in military in Ghana is illegal.
Blood donations by MSMs in Ghana
?Blood donations by MSMs in Ghana is banned (indefinite deferral).
Ghana pushes anti-LGBTQ+ bill as defense of 'family values'
Lawmakers in Ghana have reintroduced an anti-LGBTQ+ bill that was passed by the country's parliament in February 2024, but not enacted.
The legislation, acknowledged as the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, called for prison terms of up to three years for engaging in same-sex sexual relations, and up to five years for those who hire in "willful promotion, sponsorship or help of LGBTQ+ activities."
Ghana's Supreme Court in December rejected two legal bids to block the bill. It ruled that, as outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo had not yet signed the bill into rule, it could not be declared unconstitutional.
President John Mahama, who took office in January, said he was committed to passing the bill, which had widespread public support in Ghana but was condemned internationally for curtailing LGBTQ+ rights.
Ghana's Gay community living in fear
Abdul-Wadud Mohammed, deputy director of LGBT Rights Ghana, told DW that he grew up in Ghana but left his homeland because he constantly felt "under threat" there. He said he knew by the age of 10 that he was gay.
"I grew up just trying to underst
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Last updated: 29 July 2025
Types of criminalisation
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
Summary
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code 1960, which criminalises acts of ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. This provision carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this law.
The law was inherited from the British during the colonial period, in which the English criminal law was imposed upon Ghana. Ghana retained the provision in its first Criminal Code upon autonomy, which remains in oblige, and continues to criminalise same-sex sexual activity today. An anti-LGBT Bill which would further criminalise LGBT people has been passed by Parliament but will not become law until it receives Presidential assent.
There is some evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being occasionally subject to arrest, though there is no evidence of convictions under the l
Ghana passes bill making recognizing as LGBTQ+ illegal
BBC News, Accra
Ghana's parliament has passed a tough recent bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of recognizing as LGBTQ+.
It also imposes a maximum five-year jail term for forming or funding LGBTQ+ groups.
Lawmakers heckled down attempts to exchange prison sentences with society service and counselling.
It is the latest sign of growing opposition to Gay rights in the conservative West African nation.
The bill, which had the backing of Ghana's two major political parties, will come into effect only if President Nana Akufo-Addo signs it into rule.
He previously said that he would do so if the majority of Ghanaians want him to.
Gay sex is already against the law in Ghana - it carries a three-year prison sentence.
Last month Amnesty International warned that the bill "poses significant threats to the fundamental rights and freedoms" of LGBTQ+ people.
Activists fear there will now be witch-hunts against members of the LGBTQ+ community and those who campaign for their rights, and say some will have to travel into hiding
Ghana's LGBT terror: 'We reside in fear of snitches'
BBC News, Accra
Homophobia is not uncommon in Ghana, where gay sex is already against the statute and carries a three-year prison sentence, but now the LGBTQ+ community is feeling terrorised.
A new bill, passed by MPs last week, will impose a jail term of up to three years for simply identifying as Queer and five years for promoting their activities.
"A relative told me if this bill is passed, any chance he gets, he is going to poison me because I am an abomination to the family," Mensah, whose mention has been changed to protect his identity, tells the BBC.
Dressed in an all-black outfit, the new man in his adv teens looks visibly terrified: "I am very worried anyone can snitch on me, even in my own neighbourhood. It's going to be very difficult to live here."
He has been living for some time with sympathetic friends in Ghana's capital, Accra, since falling out with his family.
It is not clear how large the LGBTQ+ community is in Ghana, a religious and traditionally conservative nation, but they tend to support each oth