Ghana's Anglican bishops also endorsed the bill, saying LGBTQ beliefs were "unbiblical and ungodly" and also against Ghanaian tradition and culture. "LGBTQ Rights Ghana and its members are law-abiding citizens."Īctivist groups say the new bill is a setback for human rights in Ghana and have called on President Nana Akufo-Addo's government to reject it.īut the bill is widely supported in Ghana, where Akufo-Addo has said gay marriage will never be allowed while he is in power. "The billboards are our way of reminding and celebrating the charitable culture of Ghanaians," the group said in a statement. They said they had broken no laws to advocate for their rights.
LGBTQ Rights Ghana, the activist group that put up the posters, said their message in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale was simply to promote tolerance. Videos and photos posted on social media networks showed several slashed posters, in a heap on the ground. "So long as they mount those billboards, we would bring them down," opposition lawmaker Samuel George, one of the sponsors of the new law, said on Twitter this week.Īnother poster was taken down in the northern region of Tamale on Wednesday. The posters quickly prompted calls from conservatives for police to take them down. LGBTQ activists said they put up posters several metres high in Accra and two other cities, with phrases such as "Love, Tolerance and Acceptance". The "Promotion of proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values" bill is in parliament, but was widely condemned by the international community and rights activists. Monkeypox is considered endemic in Central and West Africa.Gay sex is illegal in conservative, highly religious Ghana, but a proposed law will criminalise even LGBTQ advocacy and impose longer jail terms for same-sex relations. Meanwhile, countries in Africa have reported more than 1,500 suspected cases including 72 deaths from eight countries. health agency also said while close contact can spread monkeypox, "it is not clear what role sexual bodily fluids, including semen and vaginal fluids, play in the transmission." WHO said many people in the outbreak have "atypical features" of the disease which could make it more difficult for doctors to diagnose. After the U.K., the biggest numbers of cases have been reported in Spain, Germany and Canada. No deaths have been reported outside of Africa. Last week, WHO said 1,285 cases of monkeypox had been reported from 28 countries where monkeypox was not known to be endemic. In May, a leading adviser to the World Health Organization said the monkeypox outbreak in Europe and beyond was likely spread by sex at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium. data, 99% of the cases so far have been in men and most are in London. Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is susceptible to catching monkeypox if they are in close, physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or bed sheets.Īccording to U.K. The U.K.'s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men. British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease.