Why Trump has Ghana's LGBTQ+ community on high alert

• Ghana's anti-LGBTQ+ bill resubmitted to parliament
• LGBTQ+ community anxious over abuse and violence
• Enacting bill into law could endanger global funding

LAGOS - For the last few weeks, Ebenezer Peegah has been on high alert.

As a LGBTQ+ activist in Ghana, he saw how violence and abuse against the community heightened when the country passed a stringent anti-LGBTQ+ bill last year, despite it never being signed into law.

The controversial bill expired but was resubmitted to parliament by a group of 10 lawmakers in February.

Peegah fears the legislation could heighten hostility, as he believes the supporting lawmakers feel emboldened by U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.

"Some people feel that since Trump is in office, we can pass the bill, and no one will be held accountable," Peegah, executive director of LGBTQ+ group Rightify Ghana, told Context.

"They cite what a Republican politician says in the U.S. and use it to justify the human rights violations that they want to do."

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, first introduced in 2021, further criminalises homosexuality in Ghana, where it is punishable by up to three years in prison, by including jail sentences for those identifying as LGBTQ+ or their allies.

It would also deny LGBTQ+ people access to jobs, health care and housing, making it one of the strictest measures of its kind in Africa.

Rightify Ghana recorded 300 incidents against the LGBTQ+ community in 2024, the year the bill first passed in parliament, up from 109 cases the year before.

"Even though it was not assented to, for some people it was a law already," Peegah said.

Passed on Feb. 28 of last year, the bill was not signed into law by then-president Nana Akufo-Addo before he left office.

Akufo-Addo had been warned that signing it into law could lead to a loss of $3.8 billion in World Bank financing, derail a $3 billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and risk international sanctions.

The administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden was among the international voices which spoke out against the bill at the time. The U.S. State Department said it was "deeply troubled" by its passage.

The Trump administration has not taken a public stance on the proposed law, but his moves back in office have prompted some opponents of the LGBTQ+ community to advocate for the bill.

Trump started his second term this year by signing an executive order stating the U.S. would only recognise two sexes - male and female - and has since ended gender-affirming care for minors and pushed to ban transgender athletes from sports competitions.

"Donald Trump has promised to prosecute those involved in gender-affirming care for transgender individuals," attorney and and anti-LGBTQ+ advocate Moses Foh-Amoaning told Neat FM, a religious radio station, in January. "That's how far he is prepared to go.

"Ghana is on the right side of the United States," he said.

Ghana's new president John Mahama has not publicly supported the bill.

During the campaign, Mahama said same-sex relations were against his faith and culture and that he would strengthen laws against LGBTQ+ activities.

Last month, he said multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank should refrain from mandating cultural issues.

"Proper family value is something we are all interested in. We believe that it is not only in the bills that we send to parliament to regulate them but also in teaching our children those family values even as they grow," Mahama said on social media.

USAID cuts

Ghana, already grappling with an economic crisis, has been hit hard by Trump's foreign aid freeze, which began in January.

The loss in U.S. funding has left it with a deficit of $158 million, with $78.2 million of that figure directly impacting the health sector, a presidential spokesman said in February.

Mahama's reluctance to publicly endorse the bill could be linked to the potentially stark economic consequences, said Berinyuy Hans Burinyuy, communications director at LGBT+ Rights Ghana.

"The president may be weighing the broader implications of such a move, recognising that it could alienate key international partners and harm Ghana’s economic future," he said.

The funding cuts have hit LGBTQ+ people hard.

Ghana relies on U.S. funding for HIV services, and rights groups including Rightify Ghana, which helps with housing, sexual violence cases, education and health care, have also lost financial support.

"We were looking at some programmes for our communities and because of the cuts we can no longer do them," Peegah said.

Owuraku, a non-binary Ghanaian, is closely monitoring the bill's progress, weighing the options and opportunities to emigrate.

"People have to choose between how to survive, whichever opportunity makes sense to them," they said.

"I know there are a lot of people who are considering leaving the country for a safe space."

(Reporting by Pelumi Salako; editing by Lucy Middleton and Ellen Wulfhorst.)