Ghanaians should give respect to the rights of homosexuals – Most Reverend Philip Naameh

The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference, Most Reverend Philip Naameh is pleading with some Ghanaians to consider respecting the rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Life (LGBTQI+) in the counrty.

The clergyman reckons as human beings just like any other, they equally need protection like anyone else.

Most Reverend Philip Naameh speaking in a radio interview with Abusua FM in Kumasi said though the Catholic Bishop Conference frowns on the sexual orientation choices of LGBTQI+ persons in Ghana, that should not be grounds for persons who are engaged in LGBTQI activities to be denied basic human right like accommodation and job opportunities.

“Lesbians and gays are humans so we need to respect them. We need to accord them those rights that all human beings enjoy. They should not be denied employment just because they are homosexuals… They should not be denied accommodation.” he stressed.

Asked for clarity from an earlier communique which was released by his office requesting the president of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwah to publicly condemn the LGBTQI activities, the reverend minister had this to say “The basis for refusing them employment should not be because they are homosexuals. Someone may have an orientation to be gay and another an orientation to be a lesbian but if he’s not acting out this orientation, first of all, he is a human being and has the right to accommodation, to work and to communion with other people and those are rights we should respect.

“We just don’t say that because he has homosexual tendencies, whereas all human beings have a right to something, he should be denied it.” He added.

The Ghana Catholic Bishop’s Conference (GCBC) early this month released a press statement which they demanded the government to shut down the recently commissioned office of LGBTQI in the country.