Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has confirmed that the controversial Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill will be reintroduced when the Ninth Parliament begins sittings.
According to the Speaker, all pending business from the Eighth Parliament has lapsed, meaning the Bill, which was not passed before Parliament was dissolved, must be laid afresh in the new legislative session.
“The eighth Parliament is history. So are all the businesses that were pending in the eighth Parliament. They all ended with the eighth Parliament and so we have a new Parliament — the ninth Parliament — and therefore what was pending there came to an end and has to be reintroduced,” Mr. Bagbin explained.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, popularly known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, had progressed to the final stages of consideration before Parliament dissolved ahead of the 2024 elections.
The Speaker’s clarification follows renewed public debate over the status of the Bill, which seeks to criminalize LGBTQ+ activities and advocacy in Ghana.
