The President has spoken, the LGBT office is closed!

The subject of LGBT+ has dominated headlines in Ghana for the third or fourth week running but in reality, nothing much has changed about the situation on the ground, aside a media uproar that led to the closing of JUST ONE office space of the several LGBT+ groupings across the country.

That’s how we have behaved as a country anytime this subject pops up. We scream, we talk morality, culture, and religion and sometimes engage in an emotive argument after which we all go to sleep without tackling the legal and legislative aspect, which in the view of The New Publisher, is the key point to have been looked at.

In the absence of tweaking the existing laws a bit, with specific mention of LGBT+ elements, to make it very clear and unambiguous that Ghana, as a country, is against same sex relationships and activities, we would only be pretending the supposed problem is solved.

When we hide behind the “unnatural carnal knowledge” phrase and pretend it captures all LGBT+ acts and activities, we are only ticking ourselves and laughing.

Unnatural carnal knowledge is asexual. It is not even restricted to homosexuals. It can be done by heterosexuals as well. Indeed it can be stretched to include oral sex, specifically, BLOW JOB

Legally and technically, unnatural carnal knowledge does not include two persons of same sex kissing each other’s lips. Why? There is no penile penetration in kissing.

A man who agrees with his wife to have consensual anal sex are engaged in unnatural carnal knowledge as well although they are neither gays nor lesbians.

Arrest two homosexuals and send them to court. If it turns out they have not indulged in unnatural carnal knowledge, what laws would be used to prosecute them?

Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo over the weekend repeated for the third time that his government would not legalize same sex marriages. The statement has been received with excitement by a majority of Ghanaians. The excitement makes one wonder whether the closed LGBT+ office was set up to advocate for the legalization of gay marriages.

Instead of shelving our emotions and prejudices so as to engage in open and honest fruitful discussions to tackle the main issues, we have become temperamental and emotional.

Anyone who dare points out a divergent view gets stigmatized and fingered for being pro-LGBT.

There have even been some opinion and traditional leaders who have openly called for the burning up of properties and facilities belonging to persons and groups SUSPECTED to be pro LGBT and as a people we have lost the moral courage to condemn such reckless hate speeches because we fear being stigmatized.

If the ONLY law we can point to is Section 104 of the Criminal Code of Ghana that talks about “Unnatural Carnal Knowledge”, then we cannot boldly say we have straight laws against LGBT+, and until that law is in place, we are on a wild goose chase.