Eight men living in Canada focused on one mission. Armed with a pen and paper, the “Ghana Pavilion”, hope a petition will pressure Ghana to decriminalize homosexuality.
The group isn’t officially part of Folklorama, but they plan to attend several Folklorama events during the next two weeks.
Instead of showcasing their country’s culture in a gym or community centre, they’ll be protesting against their country’s laws on the sidewalk—hoping thousands of signatures can help rewrite Ghana’s Criminal Code, where homosexuality is illegal and is punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

 

“I can say we are getting ahead and we are getting a whole lot of signatures. On Sunday, the team received about 1000 signatures,” said Saalu Taahiru Osman

Osman says when he was living in Ghana, he was attacked because he was dating a man. He says he was threatened, beaten and stabbed with a bottle.

“They stabbed me as you can see over here. They stabbed my tummy. After this when I went to the government hospital, I was told to go to the police station to have a police report before they could work on it for me. I couldn’t go to the police.”

The eight men aren’t sure if they can stay in Canada yet.

They applied for refugee status after walking into Manitoba three months ago in Emerson, but their refugee hearings have been postponed. Each of them say they can’t return to Ghana.

“Some are getting stabbed, killed, beaten. If you report it to police you go to prison. That’s the reason we’re running,” said Suleman Abdulai.

The petition is calling on the Government of Canada to use its diplomatic clout to promote the respect for the human rights of all LGBTQ sexual minorities in Ghana.

Once the group collects its target number of signatures, their plan is to send their petition to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, as well as the Ghana High Commission in Canada, and Winnipeg’s members of parliament.




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8 COMMENTS

  2. They are sick in their head
    Homosexuality in Ghana
    They should come to Ghana and seek for signatures.
    Crazy guys. Areach they not ashamed of themselves.

  4. Sex is sex. So everyone has a right to love whom he is attracted to. Learn to be tolerant and don’t be a hater. Whether heterosexual , homosexual or bisexual, what is important is that we are all human beings with different sexual orientations. Judge not that you may not be judged. You see why Europe is today developed. Because they are tolerant and they respect human rights. There is no single country in Europe where homosexuality is a crime. But African countries are backwards because they allow hatred to clamour their reasons. Two consenting adults should be able to enjoy themselves as long as it does not hurt another. Why have you Africans refused to be true Christians.a

  5. Mponkyi b333rrrr. Stupidity of greatest height. Even goats and sheep including other animals know their female counterparts. In fact, they can continue to stay in Canada and continue to be refugees, but homosexuality is an abomination in Ghana. They are fucking mad and sick in their heads.

  7. They need Jesus Christ. This is insanity. They should forget that irresponsible behaviour. Marry a woman and be responsible. God created a woman for Adam; He didn’t create 2 men from the beginning.

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