The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of passing a watered down version of the anti LGBTQ+ bill, questioning what changed.
Parliament passed the re-introduced Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025 on Friday, 29 May 2026, after amending the version that was passed under former President Nana Akufo-Addo. NPP figures argue the amendments fundamentally altered the legislation.
NPP Director of Communications Richard Ahiagbah said the NDC had championed the bill in opposition, voted for it and pressed for it to be signed, and that President John Mahama had pledged to assent to it, yet the party had now passed a different, heavily diluted version. “What changed, and why?” he asked in a post on X. The MP for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, claimed about 31 of the bill’s old clauses were deleted before passage, describing the result as an empty law under the old name and accusing the NDC of misleading the public.
The amendments centre on Clause 9, which now exempts from sanction people who provide legal services to persons identified as LGBTQ+, journalists and media houses reporting on LGBTQ+ matters in the course of their work, and professionals offering medical, surgical, psychological or counselling services. Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga said the changes were meant to narrowly define those exemptions so that professional services and routine activities are not read as promoting LGBTQ+ activities.
Minority MPs Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh of Bosome-Freho and John Ntim Fordjour of Assin South, a sponsor of the bill, rejected the amendments, arguing they weaken the law and imply the version submitted to Akufo-Addo was not fit for purpose. Fordjour signalled he would resist the exemptions.
The bill, first introduced in 2021 as a private members’ bill by lawmakers led by Ningo-Prampram MP Samuel Nartey George, was first passed in February 2024 but never assented to before the end of that parliamentary term. It now heads to President Mahama for assent. Supporters say the law protects Ghanaian cultural, religious and family values, while human rights groups and some international bodies argue it threatens constitutional freedoms.
