Ghana Bans LGBTQ Conference
The African nation of Ghana - one of 32 countries on that continent that criminalizes LGBTQ people - has banned a major conference of LGBTQ equality advocates after allowing a conference by a major American anti-gay group, reports Reuters.
The Reuters story said the move was in response to objections by homophobic Christian groups, but last month a prominent Muslim cleric denounced the LGBTQ conference last month in a radio interview, calling it "demonic" and "evil," and swearing to block it from coming to the country.
The conference, which was organized by the Pan Africa International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, had been slated to take place in July.
Reuters reported on the reasoning used by anti-LGBTQ Christian groups in pressuring the government not to allow the conference to proceed.
One such group, Advocates for Christ Ghana, sent President Nana Akufo-Addo a letter in which it claimed that because Ghanian law "[criminalizes] consensual same-sex sexual activities between adults... it is clearly illegal for ILGA to hold a conference here in Ghana representing a group that promotes these activities."
The World Congress of Families - which has been designated a "hate group" by watchdog the Southern Poverty Law Center, and which Reuters described as "a U.S.-based Christian organization that promotes an anti-LGBT+ agenda" - hosted a conference in Ghana in 2019, the news account said.