The protection of homosexuals in Ghana, according to Virginia E. Palmer, the United States ambassador to Ghana, is essential.
According to her, Ghana's discrimination against homosexuals would have a significant negative impact on the economy of the developing nation since investors and potential investors may leave the nation if they perceive their employees' rights cannot be upheld.
According to H. E. Virginia E. Palmer, those who identify as LGBTQI+ should be made to feel comfortable and their rights should not be infringed upon because of their differences.
This was revealed by Virginia E. Palmer during an interview with Joy News from Accra.
She adamantly maintains that she is not endorsing homosexuality but rather fighting for the rights of those with other sexual orientations.
"United States isn’t asking for special rights for homosexuals. We are asking that they receive the same rights that all other Ghanaians have. I want to be clear that we are not trying to promote homosexuality. We don’t want your straight children to be gay. We want your gay children to be safe. I think it’s very important that any threat on one group demonstrates that the rights of other people can be encroached on. Discrimination of any kind is bad.
This kind of discrimination will be bad for public order. We’ve already seen violence against LGBT persons which I think is terribly unfortunate. It is bad for public health because people won’t seek the kind of health care they need. For example HIV and monkeypox if they think they are going to be stigmatized. It could be bad for the Ghanaian economy because there will be pressure from companies to say I can’t be headquartered in Ghana if the rights of the Ghanaian people are not safe or people are not safe on the streets. It kind of sends that signal that…"
The Ghanaian Parliament is now debating a Private Members Bill that would make homosexuality a crime.
The Christian, Traditional, and Muslim groups support the bill sponsored by Hon. Sam George, member of parliament for Ningo Prampram.
They hold the opinion that Ghana should not tolerate homosexuality.