On Being LGBTQ+ in Ghana

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In honor of National Coming Out Day, I want to take some time to take a look at the experience of LGBTQ+ PCVs and Ghanaians. Many who fall outside of the "straight" norm are often forced to hide their identity to avoid persecution and, in some cases, death.

But why should these folks hide a major part of their identities? For one, being queer is seen as going against religion, which is a major part of the Ghanaian way of life. Ghanaians are very religious and believe that everything in the Bible and the hadith (sayings attributed to Mohammad) is law and should be strictly followed. Various passages in both of these sources explicitly declare homosexual acts to be abominable, and thus to be avoided. Thus, if one engaged in a same-sex relationship, he would be sinning against God and carrying out the “work of the devil.”

However, sinning against God is often not the first argument Ghanaians make as to why homosexuality is wrong. Most point to the importance of marrying and raising a family as a reason against same-sex relationships. Producing progeny is bedrock to Ghanaian culture, as it means not only will you be cared for when you are old, but you are carrying on your family line. Failing to produce children, even for straight couples, is unacceptable. Such failure often draws accusations of witchcraft (as witches cannot produce children). To be in a same-sex relationship in which there is no way for the couple to naturally reproduce (as most Ghanaians are not familiar with and/or do not have access to the medical procedures available that would give such couples the ability to produce offspring) is thus automatically unacceptable in Ghanaian culture. 

Making matters worse for queer people in Ghana are the homophobic “conspiracy theories” that have taken root in popular culture. Many of these theories provide health-related proof as to why being gay is unnatural. Volunteers have recounted host country nationals’ claims that partaking in gay sex is bad for your health because it causes “one’s anus to become so large the poop just falls out forever.” Another common theory is that homosexual sex causes cancer, while heterosexual sex does not (forgetting that women undergo pap smears to check for cervical cancer even if they strictly engage in sex with men). Even worse: claims of “gay conspiracies to take over.” A common claim in Wa is that Michelle Obama fomented a “takeover of society by gay people.” What is it about Michelle Obama that makes her a queer revolutionary? The fact that she “looks like a man”-- leading many Ghanaians to hold fast to the belief that she is secretly “a transgender.” Calling all LGBTQ+ people to arms, she is the one to blame for the apparent “falling apart” of American society through its allowance of gay marriage.

So what is the everyday experience of a queer person in Ghana? The biggest part: hiding your identity. This is hard for many PCVs, many of whom struggled to come out of the closet in the first place only to find themselves back in it. When asked whether they have a significant other, many volunteers have taken to asking a friend back home to pose as their wife or husband so they can avoid rumors that they “practice gayism.” In addition, all of them have to hear constant homophobic statements that, while not directed at them (as they are not “out” to their community), nonetheless are about them. While they may try to stick up for “their friends” who are gay and argue that “who is to judge another but God?”, it is easy to feel like these conversations are useless, as they are just baby steps in the marathon of removing homophobia in Ghanaian society.

While queer PCVs struggle hiding in the closet in Ghana, they can rest assured that they only need to remain so for the two or three years that they are in service. LGBTQ+ Ghanaians, on the other hand, do not have this privilege. Most, like PCVs, remain in the closet but suffer through hearing the same homophobic slurs. If boys are deemed “too feminine” or girls “too masculine,” oftentimes their family has to protect them, keeping them inside to avoid being harassed, beaten up, or even killed. Everyone in Ghana knows the story of two lesbian girls in senior high school who were caught together and had to run to avoid being killed by their community. The girls have yet to be found. One can only hope this means they escaped, but the reality is they could have just as easily been murdered.

To adhere to societal expectations to marry and raise children, most end up marrying people to whom they do not have any romantic attraction. One gay man I met in Wa is a prime example. After meeting a lesbian PCV visiting Wa, he pursued her hand in marriage, saying that they “just had to do it for show, maybe have a child and then [they] can do [their] own thing. [They would be] helping each other.” Others take to using apps like Grindr to secretly pursue a queer relationship. However, there have been cases of straight men trolling apps like these with the aim of tracking down and murdering gay folks.

So where does Ghana stack up against other developing countries? According to LGBTQ+ PCVs across the globe, queer folks in most countries with a PC presence (which are often labeled “developing”) are experiencing similar levels of oppression. Some volunteers have reported locals being distrustful of Peace Corps because of the widespread belief that they enlist “gay spies.” A few volunteers have had to “early terminate” (ET)-- cut their service short-- because their communities discovered they were gay and threatened them with violence. Some have had to ET because their community no longer trusted them upon finding out they were queer and so could no longer carry out projects. Similarly, volunteers have reported gay host country nationals being rooted out of their homes by police and jailed for their identities. Many apply for asylum in other countries, but are often forced to help police catch other LGBTQ+-identifying individuals before they will agree to even look at their papers. In many of these countries, homosexuality is illegal, and even being accused of being such ruins the lives of many individuals, as they are ostracized from their communities, hunted down, jailed, and sometimes killed.

Upon reading all this, it would be easy to demonize Ghana and other developing countries’ cultures for being so homophobic. However, it is important to realize that gay rights in the U.S. did not get to where it is now until very recently. For a long time, the United States similarly jailed people for being gay, refused them the ability to serve in the military or work for the government, and overwhelmingly ostracized them for their identities. Even now, LGBTQ+ rights are being attacked, and in too many places it is still common to hear about queer folks being killed or committing suicide because of the bullying they experience. Many, including myself, have our identities constantly questioned as to whether or not they are “valid.” With these realities in mind, then we can see what is happening in Ghana and other countries as the beginning of a worldwide journey toward equal rights for LGBTQ+ people. One does not have to look very hard to see the beginnings of gay rights activism in these countries, which gives queer folks everywhere the hope that their nations will slowly begin to transition towards policies that protect their rights and their lives.