MPs vote on LGBTQ + bill must be done through an open “yes or no” ballot

Parliament is expected to begin debate on the bill later this month

Members of Parliament must use an open ballot system when voting on a bill to criminalize the activities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, homosexual, LGBTQ +; community.

This is the point of view of the apostle Alexander Kumi Larbi, secretary general of the Church of Pentecost.

In a tweet posted on October 7, 2021, the clergyman said, “We demand full transparency in the LGBTQ bill. We therefore ask for an open ballot for the Yes and No boxes. We want to see the vote of every MP.

“We put them out there and should see how they represent us on this issue of our value system,” his tweet read.

His views are supported by TV show host Paul Adom-Otchere, who also called for debate on the bill due to start later this month to be televised LIVE and the vote subsequent members are open and strong.

The Pentecostal pastor’s tweet came just 24 hours after the church led by its president, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, presented a memorandum to parliament expressly supporting the bill.

They also presented 15,000 signatures from their members supporting the aptly named anti-LGBTQ + bill: “‘Promotion of Appropriate Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values ​​2021”.

Other faiths and Christian groups recently increased their support for the bill after a group of academics, lawyers and human rights defenders presented a memo opposing the bill they called anti-democratic and unconstitutional.

The pro-gay Ghanaian collective

A group of 18 academics and human rights activists voiced strong opposition to the bill in parliament, which seeks to broadly criminalize the activities of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, homosexuals, intersex, LGBTQ +.

The group submitted a memorandum to parliament calling for the bill to be rejected because it was largely unconstitutional and violated basic human rights.

MPs behind the bill, led by Ningo Prampram MP Sam Nartey George, rejected the memorandum and said the bill would be passed because it enjoys the support of the wider Ghanaian population.