The Presbyterian Church of Ghana has issued a press statement announcing their support towards the passage of the draft Bill ‘Promotion Of Proper Human Sexual Rights And Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021’ which has been laid before Parliament.
The ‘Promotion Of Proper Human Sexual Rights And Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021’, which is yet to be considered by parliament, seeks to unequivocally criminalise LGBTQI+ activities.
According to the bill, people of the same sex who engage in sexual intercourse are “liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than seven hundred and fifty penalty units and not more than five thousand penalty units, or to a term of imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than five years or both.”
The bill also proposes that a person who, by use of media, technological platform, technological account or any other means, produces, procures, markets, broadcasts, disseminates, publishes or distributes a material for purposes of promoting an activity prohibited under the Bill, or a person uses an electronic device, the Internet service, a film, or any other device capable of electronic storage or transmission to produce, procure, market, broadcast, disseminate, publishes or distribute a material for purposes of promoting an activity prohibited under the Bill, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years.”
The Presbyterian Church of Ghana in a statement noted that the basis of the PCG’s support for the Bill is two-fold, namely the preservation of Christian ideals and values, and the fulfillment of the provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
According to the statement, the PCG being the oldest continuously existing Christian denomination in Ghana, deem it an obligation to support and support everything that promotes Christian values and we stand up against any and everything that threatens Christian ideals and values.
“Firstly, we find the activities of the LGBTTQQIAAP+ persons and their advocates a threat not only to Christian ideals and values but inimical to the very existence of the human race. The Bible chiefly teaches thus “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” (1 Corinthians 10:23, NKJV),” the Presbyterian Church added.
“As Christians, we are enjoined by human values and dignity consistent with the Holy Bible to lead expedient lives. The practice and promotion of the LGBTTQQIAAP+ is in complete conflict with the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches thus “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’
‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10: 6-9, NKJV).”
“The Bible is unequivocal in its teachings. Thus, marriage, and by extension sex, is between a man and a woman. Indeed, the only natural way the human race can procreate and perpetuate is via coital sex between a man and a woman. To allow the activities of the LGBTTQQIAAP+ to fester is to put the natural existence of the human race in danger,” excerpts of the statement by the Presbyterian Church said.
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Meanwhile, a group of Professors and human right activists have opposed the bill, describing it as undemocratic.
The group says the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, when passed into law, would erode a raft of fundamental human rights, as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
The group who are against the passage of the bill include Mr Akoto Ampaw; author, scholar and former Director of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Prof. Emerita Takyiwaa Manuh; a communications and media expert, Prof. Kwame Karikari; the Dean of the University of Ghana (Legon) School of Law, Prof. Raymond Atuguba, and a former Dean of the University of Ghana School of Information and Communication Studies, Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu Boatemaa | [email protected]