The lawyer argues that practices of LGBTQI+ are not legal
Private legal practitioner, lawyer Tachie Antiedu, has strongly stated that the issue of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) is not a human rights issue as argued by persons opposing the anti-gay bill.
He explained that we should not limit the activities of LGBTQI+ issues to human rights because that is absurd.
Practices and the matters of choice he posited are determined by the legal systems of the country, he said.
The lawyer and author asserted that we have to stop giving prominence to the issue because it is disgusting, evil and against the values and laws of Ghana.
Lawyer Antiedu said we don’t have to allow the European countries to dictate to us over LGBTQI+ issues because we are a sovereign state.
He told Rainbowradioonline.com that the laws of Ghana criminalize activities of gay sex, and if people want to practice it, they should understand that when they get them, they will not go unpunished.
The laws of Ghana, he added, were framed based on values, principles and things that shapes and transforms people and but not to allow them to engage in practices against our values as a people.
To him, parliament has delayed in working on the LGBTQI+ bill because if they had expedited the processes in passing the bill, all these brouhahas would have been prevented.
“Parliament is even wasting time. This is nonsense. Ghana is a sovereign nation. We have the power to formulate laws to control our people,” he said.
“It’s not every human conduct or practice that looks like a human right that is a human right. Some human rights are based on context or the society in question. Ghana’s legal system does not exist in a vacuum. It has a supporting foundation. And that is our value system, which includes our customs, practices and morality. Homosexuality or LGBRQI+ practices do not find space in our legal system, and cannot be said to be human rights in Ghana.”