Of criminalisation and the civilising mission

A few months ago, a group of Ghanaian MPs tabled a draft bill aimed at criminalising the ‘public show of amorous relations between or among persons of the same sex’ and ‘intentional cross-dressing … with intent to engage in an act prohibited under the act.’

That country’s Anglican archbishop, Cyril Kobina Ben Smith, joined several other prominent Ghanaian Christian leaders in endorsing the bill. He wrote: ‘The church does not condemn persons of homosexual tendencies, but absolutely condemns the sinful acts and activities they perform.’

As expected, Western reaction to the news of this draft legislation was swift and largely negative. For example, the Archbishop of Canterbury stated that he was ‘gravely concerned’, while prominent LGBT advocacy groups described the bill as the ‘worst homophobic document ever’.