Prior to the center’s shutdown, more than 100 Ghanaian feminists signed an open letter of solidarity with LGBT+ Rights Ghana, claiming the backlash “follows a trend of moral panic led by the media, religious groups, and political figures.”
“Whenever queer Ghanaians demand rights, respect, and safety in our own country, these leaders use the guise of morality and concern to push a violent agenda,” the coalition added. “[…] We believe that the patriarchal and colonial constructions of gender and sexuality that shape social expectations and norms not only hurt the LGBT+ community, but continue to keep other marginalized groups–including poor women, sex workers, people with dreadlocs, amongst others – oppressed and constantly policed.”
According to the international legal tracker Equaldex, homosexuality is punishable in Ghana by up to three years in prison. Meanwhile, same-sex marriage remains illegal, LGBTQ+ people in the country are not protected from discrimination, and individuals can be subjected to conversion therapy without any legal sanction against it.
However, changing gender on official documents is legal, and surgery isn’t required to do so. Same-sex adoption rights are only limited to the stepchildren of one’s partner.
With LGBTQ+ rights not yet enshrined in Ghana’s federal laws, Annor told JoyNews on Monday that he had been hesitant about coming out to people in his life. But eventually, he said that he told his mother.
“I remember the following day, she came to say, ‘I have not been able to sleep because of what you told me,’ and I could feel her pain because she thought I was going to put my life in danger for what others are facing particularly being a TV person and being suspected of being gay and not openly saying it,” he said, noting that he downplayed his sexual orientation after the fact.
Although he has yet to address the shutdown of the LGBT+ Rights Ghana community center, Annor took to Instagram on Wednesday and expressed his gratitude for the outpouring of support from around the world.
“I have heard stories of my people still in the closet, they have shared their pain and fears in a deeply religious country still bent on dehumanizing Africa’s sexual minority groups,” Annor wrote. “It is not new to me. I know it, because it was a lived experience from Ghana and to the Congo where I worked for almost three years. My hope and prayer is that there will come a time where the LGBTQI+ community everywhere is treated with nothing less than respect, kindness and basic human dignity.”
“It lies within each of us to continue to be the light and shine the path for the oppressed minorities within our families, communities, nations and the world at large,” he continued.
In reflecting on the recent JoyNews appearance, Annor said he was reminded of other LGBTQ+ people who blazed trails before him, affirming that he remains optimistic for what’s to come. “To my Queer community, just know that I see you, I stand with you and I am you,” Annor wrote.
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