by Elsie Prah First published on africanfeminism.com Africa is a diverse continent with many cultures, norms, languages, and belief systems. Africa is also a continent where LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and other nonbinary identities) persons experience exceptional human rights violations.  Consensual same-sex sexual acts are criminalised in 31 countries, with the death penalty indicated in Mauritania, Nigeria, and Uganda. Incarceration ranges from one-year imprisonment in Liberia to life imprisonment in Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania ..read more

Open Letter from the Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa to the Most Rev. Philip Naameh, Chair of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference 05 March 2024 Dear Most Rev. Philip Naameh, We urge you and the Catholic bishops in Ghana to reconsider your stance toward the now-passed “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act, 2024.” Ask the President not to assent to it. Pledge to support LGBT+ Ghanaians with human rights advocacy and pastoral care. Take back the religious independence which this Act wrongfully arrogates to the civil authority. We urge you and your fellow bishops to read the Ac ..read more

IDNOWA’s Executive Director, Davis Maclyalla paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Director and staff of the Centre for Religion and Public Life Ghana in their Accra office on Tuesday, 30th January 2024. IDNOWA visited the centre to discuss collaboration and to explore avenues for providing inclusive, safe, and pastoral care for marginalised people in Ghana, mostly the LGBT+ people. IDNOWA was well received, and we presented the CRPL-Ghana team with copies of our booklet, where we have documented the violation of the human rights of LGBT+ persons in Ghana. There is much evidence to engage pa ..read more

by Redaction Africannews -Taken from Africannews – https://www.africanews.com/2023/11/27/ghana-cardinal-peter-turkson-its-time-to-understand-homosexuality/ A prominent Ghanaian priest, cardinal Peter Turkson of the Roman Catholic church has spoken against criminalizing homosexuality, challenging the proposed bill in Ghana’s parliament that seeks severe penalties for the LGBTQ+ community. This statement contradicts the position of other Roman Catholic bishops in Ghana who have labelled homosexuality a crime. The backdrop of this discussion involves ongoing parliamentary debates on a bill that c ..read more

As reported by Sky News – https://news.sky.com/story/69-people-arrested-over-gay-wedding-in-nigeria-freed-on-bail-12965128 A police spokesman said the men and women were arrested “for allegedly conducting and attending a same-sex wedding ceremony”, before adding that homosexuality “will never be tolerated” in Nigeria. Sixty-nine people arrested after Nigerian police raided an alleged gay wedding have been released on bail. They were arrested last month in one of the biggest mass detentions targeting homosexuality in Nigeria, where gay weddings are illegal. A court in Warri, Delta state, ruled ..read more

IDNOWA executive director, Davis Mac-iyalla, welcomes the statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was important that he reminded the Ugadan Church leaders and other African religious leaders that homophobia and supporting the criminalisation of LGBT+ people is unchristian and unanglican.   Just recently Pope Frances echoed the same Christian principle denouncing laws criminalising LGBT+ people as sin and injustice.  IDNOWA will continue to advocate for the full inclusion and affirmation of LGBT+ people in West A ..read more

‘We don’t need a law based on emotions that fills up our prisons This article first appeared May 6th on 76crimes.com. It was translated into English from the website of  the French  LGBTQ rights group Stop Homophobie : It was written by MOÏSE MANOËL-FLORISSE Senegal President Macky Sall (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia) On Friday, April 28, Senegal’s Parliament rejected a series of proposals, including a text that would toughen the criminalization of homosexuality, already punishable by one to five years in prison and a fine (Article 319 of the Penal Code, dating from 1966 ..read more

Homophobic attackers target LGBTQ+ activist as he is installed as a chief in Ghana At the time of the attack, he was being carried aloft in a palanquin. A group of youths overturned it, sending Mac-Iyalla toward the ground. “Trying to throw me off the palanquin was an assassination attempt,” Mac-Iyalla stated. “I did not fall. They attempted to kill me but failed. How can I fall from the palanquin when I was sitting down?” He called the assault a “pure violent homophobic attack.” During the ceremony, Mac-Iyalla was installed as Amankorehen of the Yamonransa Nkusukum Traditional Area in the Ce ..read more

Davis Mac-Iyalla, Executive Director of IDNOWA, talks about a recent investigation by CNN into how some western governments, who have pledged to support LGBTQI+ rights, have also funded supporters of a controversial bill in Ghana that would introduce harsh sentences for advocating for sexual and gender minorities’ rights. I think the Western culture that promotes equality and diversity should not compromise their standards. Why aren’t these western governments looking at the groups they are funding to see if they share the same values. I don’t believe in giving funds conditionality but I ..read more

IDNOWA and its members in Ghana are standing up against the so-called ‘Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021,’ one of the most repressive and far-reaching anti-gay laws so far proposed on the African continent. A Christian Prayer for LGBTQ People Who Face Persecution Loving God, source of all creation, you have endowed all people with inherent dignity and worth, and you invite us to treat each other in ways that honour and value that worth. Too often the lives, rights, and freedom of LGBTQ people have not been valued in our communities and our society ..read more