Ghana Is Moving to Criminalize LGBTQ+ Identity. Here's What the Bill Would Actually Do.

Ghana is on the verge of enacting one of the most sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ laws anywhere in the world. The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill — known widely as Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill — has been revived in parliament and is moving toward passage. President John Dramani Mahama has stated plainly that he will sign it.

Here’s what the bill would actually do.

What the Bill Contains

The legislation expands significantly on Ghana’s existing colonial-era laws criminalizing same-sex relations. The existing law carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment for “unnatural carnal knowledge.” The new bill would go much further:

Criminal penalties for identity and expression:

• Up to 3 years in prison for identifying as LGBTQ+
• Up to 3 years for undergoing gender-affirming care
• Up to 3 years for entering a same-sex marriage or attending a same-sex wedding — as a guest
• 6 months to 1 year for any “public show of romantic relations” between same-sex people, or between any two people where one has undergone gender transition or cross-dresses

Criminal penalties for advocacy and speech:

• 6 to 10 years for producing, procuring, or distributing any material deemed to promote LGBTQ+ activities
• Up to 3 years for advocating for LGBTQ+ equal rights

Criminal penalties for support:

• Institutions and individuals could be penalized for failing to “promote and protect proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values” — language that human rights lawyers have flagged as dangerously vague

The bill was originally introduced in 2021, passed by parliament in February 2024, but expired when then-President Akufo-Addo declined to sign it before leaving office. When President Mahama returned to power in January 2025, the bill was re-introduced. In February 2026, parliament formally received the revised legislation, and it is currently in committee.

Mahama’s Position

President Mahama has been explicit. When asked about the bill ahead of a US visit in late March, he said: “If the Parliament of the people of Ghana endorse the bill, and vote on it, and pass it, and it comes to me as president, I will sign it.”

During that same visit — where he was honored in Philadelphia — Mahama faced protests from LGBTQ+ advocates who objected to the city welcoming a head of state actively supporting criminalization legislation. Mahama told reporters that the bill reflects the values of Ghana’s population and that foreign criticism amounted to cultural imposition.

Opposition from Rights Organizations

Ghana’s own human rights institutions have spoken against the bill. Ghana’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice formally warned parliament that the legislation would infringe on fundamental rights of Ghanaian citizens — including rights protected under Ghana’s own constitution.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both issued detailed memoranda to the Ghanaian parliament urging rejection. In a written submission filed in March 2026, Human Rights Watch documented the ways the bill violates Ghana’s international human rights obligations under treaties the country has ratified.

Ghanaian LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations — many of which operate semi-underground given the existing legal environment — have warned that even the public debate around the bill has triggered a surge in harassment, threats, and forced displacement of LGBTQ+ people who fear being identified.

Context: West Africa’s Broader Pattern

Ghana is not alone in West Africa in this direction. Nigeria criminalized same-sex relationships in 2014. Senegal has strict anti-sodomy laws. Sierra Leone and Gambia have similar legislation. If Ghana’s bill passes, it would represent one of the most comprehensive expansions of criminalization on the continent — going beyond sexual conduct to explicitly target identity, expression, and advocacy.

This is distinct from most existing African anti-LGBTQ+ laws, which focus primarily on sexual acts. Ghana’s bill would, if enacted, make it a crime to say you are gay. To go to a friend’s same-sex wedding. To write an article arguing for equal rights.

That last provision deserves particular attention: criminalizing advocacy. Laws that make it illegal to argue for minority rights represent a fundamentally different category of threat than laws targeting behavior. They silence the political process that is supposed to be available for change.

What Happens Next

The bill is currently in parliamentary committee. The timeline for a full floor vote is unclear, but the political will appears to be there — the ruling National Democratic Congress party has not organized opposition to it, and the main opposition New Patriotic Party previously supported it when in power.

If it passes and Mahama signs it, it would take effect as Ghanaian law. Legal challenges through the courts are possible but face significant obstacles given the conservative composition of Ghana’s judiciary on these issues.

International pressure has had some effect in past iterations of this bill — foreign governments and multilateral organizations have raised concerns — but Mahama’s Philadelphia comments suggest he is prepared to proceed regardless.

For LGBTQ+ Ghanaians, the situation is already difficult and is growing more dangerous. Several diaspora organizations are providing resources for Ghanaians seeking asylum abroad; UNHCR guidance on LGBTQ+ asylum claims may be relevant for those at risk.

We’ll continue to follow this legislation as it moves through parliament. What happens in Ghana matters not just for Ghanaians, but for the broader pattern of criminalization that is accelerating across multiple continents in 2026.

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Human Rights Watch has published a detailed written memorandum on the bill at hrw.org. Aleanca LGBT Albania’s regional partner organizations provide resources for LGBTQ+ Africans seeking international support.