By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Lawmakers from across over a dozen of African countries have pledged to push new bills stifling LGBT rights, following a conference in Accra, Ghana which brought together self-acclaimed “pro-family” activists from across Africa and Europe.
The African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty took place from June 3–6, a week after Ghana’s parliament passed what has been described as one of the continent’s toughest anti-LGBT measures. The bill criminalises LGBT promotion.
The gathering is largely viewed as a shift toward more restrictive laws targeting LGBT people in parts of Africa, which the conference participants said was being encouraged by conservative figures in the United States and Europe, and has gained new momentum since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Some participants said they saw an opportunity to promote their agendas under Trump, whose administration, who unlike his predecessors – Barack Obama and Joe Biden, does not promote LGBT rights as part of its foreign policy.
“When you return to your respective capitals, let the resolutions we adopt here not gather dust in the archives of our secretariats. Let them be translated into active bills, robust budgetary allocations, and rigorous oversight,” Ghana Parliament Speaker Alban Bagbin said in his opening remarks.
“Go home and tell your people that their representatives have resolved to protect the sanctuaries of their homes, the heritage of their ancestors, and the sovereignty of their nations.”
More than half of Africa’s 54 countries criminalise same-sex sexual acts. Several countries, including Uganda and Senegal, have recently gone a step further, adopting laws that criminalise LGBT “promotion” – something Ghana’s lawmakers approved in late May.
Organisers said lawmakers from 20 countries attended the conference held at Ghana’s parliament but it is not clear how many intend to introduce new legislation based on the discussions.
Speakers included Henk Jan van Schothorst, the Dutch executive director of the advocacy group Christian Council International. He urged African governments to resist pressure to ban so-called conversion therapy, which aims to make gay people straight.
“These policies are not only reserved for the Netherlands and for Europe. They are coming to Africa,” he said of the bans, describing them as “ideological colonisation” by Western powers.
In another presentation, Kenyan doctor Wahome Ngare defined homosexual as “the young man sexually molested by the father” and transgender as “the young lady sexually molested by strangers.”
The conference concluded with lawmakers approving an “African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values”, drafted at earlier meetings in Uganda.
The 32-page document urges governments to withdraw from treaties or agreements, including at the United Nations and with foreign donors — seen as promoting “the LGBT agenda”, abortion or sex education that is not abstinence-focused.
The charter also says signatories should work to enact national laws that “safeguard African culture and cultural values.” Lawmakers from 18 of the 20 represented countries approved the charter.
