General News of Thursday, 14 October 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2021-10-14Muslim group backs anti-LGBTQI+ bill
Supporters of the bill want LGBTQ+ activities criminalised
• Debate over LGBTQ+ bill continues unabated
• The bill has been referred to the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament
• Supporters of the bill want LGBTQ+ activities criminalised
A group called Muslim Professionals and Business Associates have backed the anti-LGBTQI+ bill laid before parliament.
They opined that the activities of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) should be criminalized
Read full article.because it is morally unacceptable.
In a Daily Graphic report, the group cited Quran 4:16, Quran 7:84 and Quran 11:83 to buttress their claim.
It said, "And as for the two of you men who are guilty of lewdness, punish them... (Quran 4:16), again in another verse, 'When our (Allah's) command came, we turned the city (Sodom) upside down and rained layers upon layers of clay on it. '(Quran 11:83), to add, And we let rainfall on them. Look how that was the end of the wrongdoers. (Quran 7:84), and further readings, "He (Lut) said: help me, my Lord, against the people who cause disaster."
"As young businessmen and successful professionals, the clarity of an impending doom or" disaster on our generation and businesses due to this evil and satanic sexual preference and practice of a few is not lost on me and thereby answering duties call to support this bill. Describing those activities as reprehensible, the group commended the Members of Parliament (MPs) who had initiated the bill," the group stated.
The group maintained that there is scientific evidence to show that there's an increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among the LGBTQI+ community.
“More so, the aim of the coalition is to guard against exposing the already vulnerable Zongo communities to a greater risk to avoid eroding the gains made so far in such areas," the group is quoted to have said by Daily Graphic.
About the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill
Sam Nartey George led an eight-member legislative group that drafted a Private Members’ Bill titled: “The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values, Bill 2021," which seeks to comprehensively outlaw activities of the LGBTQ+ community.
Currently, the bill has been laid before the house and referred to the appropriate committee for consideration.
The Ningo Prampram MP has strongly defended the need for the bill which he insists is a necessity in preserving the moral and cultural values of Ghanaians in general.
Sam George insists that LGBTQ+ tendencies are not human rights but preferences that need to be regulated within the context of what Ghanaian society and culture accept.
The bill has the full blessing of Speaker Alban Bagbin who is on record to have said he is pro-life and will ensure that the bill is passed into law as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, 18 prominent people have rejected the proposed anti-gay bill in parliament.
In their view, the bill violates almost all the key fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the constitution.