A private legal practitioner has taken on the Speaker of Parliament for ruling that the deliberation and voting on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill will be made public.

According to Akoto Ampaw, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin’s decision was unrelated to legislative proceedings.

He believes that the move is to influence voters to punish MPs who support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) and other related activities in the next general elections.

Speaker Alban Bagbin on Monday made the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill Parliament’s top priority when the House resumed from recess.

In his opening remarks, the former Nadowli-Kaleo MP said he will ensure that the public knows where every MP stands on the bill.

But in a rebuttal, Mr Ampaw, a member of the Concerned Citizens against the anti-LGBTQ Bill, said the legislators must be left to decide whether or not the Bill should be passed.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3, the lawyer stated, “I am sorry to say that this is a bait by the Speaker that everybody votes in public so that Ghanaians will see where they stand. It is a political bait.

“It is not a legislative process. So that the vast majority of Ghanaians who are opposed to homosexuality, as the CDD survey suggests, will use this as a benchmark for political elections, it has nothing to do with the constitutionality of the bill.”

In August, eight parliamentarians jointly submitted a private bill to push for the criminalisation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer and their related (LGBTQ+) activities in the country.

The proponents also want the promotion, advocacy, funding, and acts of homosexuality to be forbidden in the country.

Since the controversial bill was made public, opposers have argued that should it be passed into law, it will violate the fundamental human rights of individuals who identify with the group.

The bill is currently with the Parliamentary Committee that has since called on citizens to submit documents stating their positions on the bill.