Volume 7, Number 4

Social and Constitutional Views on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ (Lgbtq+) and Whether or Not they are Lawful in the Ghanaian Law Today

  Authors

Isaac Eshun, University of Education, Ghana

  Abstract

Gay and Lesbian Studies (GLS), social constructionism, and queer theory are the three main theoretical approaches employed in the study. These were critically employed to examine the issues on paradigms of modernism and postmodernism on LGBTQ+ persons. Qualitatively, this research adopted a desk design hinging on the sources of law from Article 11 of the 1992 Ghanaian Constitution and social conceptions in the Ghanaian perspectives. Recent decades have seen progress toward ensuring respect for the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ (LGBTQ+) people. Yet a number of United Nations (UN) member countries still criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts, contrary to tenets of the UN Human Rights Council (2016), and in some cases, national laws against discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity. According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), consensual same-sex sexual acts are criminalized in Seventy (70) UN member states as well as some non-UN states such as Gaza, the Cook Islands, and certain provinces of Indonesia. In Africa, proscription of consensual same-sex sexual acts remains a commonplace even though South Africa became the first country in the world to recognize same-sex relationships and same-sex spouses and other African states have decriminalized such acts. Ghana is one of the African countries that has no explicit laws on same-sex relations but has legislation that can be interpreted as criminalizing such activity. The Republic of Ghana Criminal Offences Act of 1960 (Act 29). Article 104(1) of Chapter 6 states that, “unnatural carnal knowledge” between consenting adults (age 16 and above) is a misdemeanour. Human-rights activists contend that, Ghana’s criminal code lacks clarity and countless commentaries have argued both sides of the question of whether Ghana should legalize same-sex relationships. Taking a critical look at Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution, it grants unto the people of Ghana certain rights and freedoms which are inalienable. Now the members of the LGBTQ+ society are not exceptions. This study goes to find out whether the failure to legalize the LGBTQ+ agenda is inconsistent with the Constitution and whether there is any reasonable justification for doing so.

  Keywords

Bisexual, Gay, Gender Identity, Ghanaian Law, Lesbian, LGBTQ+, Queer, Sexual Orientation, Sexuality, The 1992 Constitution, Transgender.