social justice - same sex, different rights

By Jaime Jacques and Florence Gbolu (Ghanaian Chronicle)

June 22, 2005: Accra - Beaten, harassed, and bereft of many fundamental human rights, Prince Kweku Macdonald refuses to give up his fight. He has suffered violence and discrimination at the hands of fellow Ghanaians for years, ever since people started suspecting that he might be gay.

At around the age of eighteen, while attending pastorial school, Macdonald started feeling attracted to men. "I was brought up to believe that it was against God's law and I thought, how can you, as a Christian, feel this way? I prayed for several months and years, that how I felt about myself would change, but I realized that it wasn't going to change."

Hopeless, Macdonald was thinking of taking his own life when he met someone who helped him deal with his feelings of frustration and despair. "I confided in a friend and he told me that he had felt the same way, for years, and that I was not an evil person."

Encouraged by the confirmation that he was not alone, Macdonald abandoned his suicide plan and instead began working to protect gay rights in Ghana.

Now a human rights activist with the gay and lesbian association of Ghana, Macdonald wants society's attitude towards gays and lesbians to change. "I think it is possible. If two religious groups are living together, then it is possible for two types of people to also live together."

But there is a significant difference. It is not against the law to practice different religions. It is illegal, however, to take part in sexual activities that are not intended for procreation. Article 104 of the criminal code prohibits unnatural carnal knowledge.

That means that gay and lesbian sex is punishable by law, even when it is done in the privacy of your own home. This, says one Ghanaian lawyer, who wishes to remain unidentified, is in direct violation of the constitution, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which has been ratified by Ghana. She is using this ICCPR as a means of protecting her client, who was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for having sex with another man.

The covenant states that, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence." "Ghana, in ratifying that covenant, is bound to implement its provisions," she says.

She claims that the rights to privacy, a private life and not to be discriminated against on the grounds of sex or sexual orientation are fundamental human rights and freedoms inherent in a democracy.

This is the first case of this kind she has worked on, and she admits that most of her colleagues wouldn't represent a gay client. "The attitude is very difficult in this society," she says. "I think religion has a lot to do with it."

Macdonald agrees that the strong belief in Christianity in Ghana made dealing with his sexual orientation that much harder, but eventually, he was able to reconcile the two aspects of his life. "I re-examined my life, and thought that I would combine the two," he says.

"I realized that what I was taught when growing up wasn't the truth; this perception people are having about what God did and what God wants, about being gay and being Christian."

Macdonald says he prays and goes to church, and refutes the idea that because one is gay, it is not possible to be a good Christian.
"Christianity is a relationship between man and God."

His opinion is not necessarily popular among other Christians, but years of discrimination have taught him not to rely on other people's opinions about his private life. "My advice to others would be that when you are coming to accept your sexuality and you feel alone, know that you are not alone. There are hundreds of people feeling the way you are feeling, all over the world."