Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, the board chair of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (GDC-Ghana), has urged President Akufo-Addo to veto the Appropriate Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
According to Prof. Gadzekpo, the bill infringes upon fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Constitution, such as freedom of speech and association, academic freedom, participation in processions, equality, and nondiscrimination.
Prof. Gadzekpo stressed that protecting rights and freedoms is essential to constitutional democracy during a press conference on human rights and a rights-based strategy for assisting sexual minorities in Ghana.
She emphasized the importance of the matter for all Ghanaians and cautioned that changing these rights could imperil the country’s democratic values.
We can all feel like minorities on any given issue, depending on where we are and where our democratic pillars rest to prevent the tyranny of the majority. Therefore, our only defence against majoritarian tyranny is the rights guaranteed in the Constitution.
The claim made by the supporters of the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill that the majority of Ghanaians are supposedly in favor of the bill justifies its passage into law is untenable because human rights are not contingent on majority approval or disapproval. Ghana is a secular nation with many different religions.
