Editorial

LGBTQI community doesn’t have space in our culture!

Straight from the shoulder, lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex under the ignominious acronym LGBTQI community doesn’t have space in society because it is alien to the people’s values and beliefs.

Unfortunately, it appears the issue of LGBTQI is being ferociously fused into the Ghanaian culture by some ‘big guys’ under the guise of human rights and respect for each other’s values.

Strangely, our partners from different socio-cultural settings are failing to understand and respect our unique cultural differences, and are attempting to make their continuous support to us dependent on LGBTQI.

Although Ghana is a secular state, our lives are influenced by religion in which the existence of God is firmly rooted in our belief systems. Consequently, we are committed to upholding the virtues of Godliness at all times!

All the major religions in Ghana, notably Christianity and Islam abhor the practice of LGBTQI. There abound several Biblical and Qur’anic exhortations to humanity to refrain from homosexuality because it is ungodly.

We note the concerns raised by the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, that is at the forefront of protecting our values and family system against any alien influence.

For those who continue to defend the practitioners under the guise of human rights and respect for other’s right, let it be sounded to them that, we are not ready to link human rights to practices that are inhuman.

National constitutions and laws are partly crafted from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that we all subscribe to under the aegis of the United Nations.

We refer to Article 16 (1) of the UDHR, which states “Men and women of full age without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.”

Furthermore, Encyclopaedia Britannica defines marriage as “A legally and socially sanctioned union, usually between a man and woman, that is regulated by laws, rules, customs, beliefs, and attitudes that prescribe the rights and duties of the partners and accords status to their offspring (if any).”

We strongly reject any form of marriage outside of this globally acclaimed and divinely approved institution of marriage!

Again, we strongly disagree with the postulation that LGBTQI practitioners operate within the freedom of association. Constitutions recognise the existence of association that promote public good and doesn’t offend public morality.   

We commend the Executive Director of the coalition, Moses Foh-Amoaning, for drawing attention of the authorities about the office space of the LGBTQI, at Tesano, in Accra, and urging the practitioners to close the facility because of its illegality.

The Ghanaian Times views the reason being advanced by the promoters of the LGBTQI that they are constantly under attack for that matter they decided to open an office in the country to discuss their plight as untenable!!

It is our humble opinion and advise that it will be in their own interest to seek the salvation of God from the clergy, the Ulamas and the clinical psychologist who are ready to help them out of that ungodly act.

It is in light of these developments that we also add our voice to the call by the coalition, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and all like-minded Ghanaians to the government not to succumb to any external pressure to legalise activities of LBGTQI in Ghana.    

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