According to a prominent Ghanaian cardinal, homosexuality shouldn't be illegal and people should be given more education on the subject.
The remarks from Cardinal Peter Turkson coincide with a law that the parliament is debating that would penalize LGBT persons severely.
His opinions conflict with those of Ghana's Roman Catholic bishops, who describe homosexuality as "despicable."
Pope Francis hinted last month that he may be amenable to same-sex couples receiving a Catholic Church blessing.
However, he continued, the Church would not recognize same-sex marriage and still viewed same-sex relationships as "objectively sinful."
Legislators from Ghana supported provisions in a law that was submitted in July and would have imposed a three-year prison penalty for identifying as LGBT. The bill is currently pending in parliament. Advocates for LGBT rights may also be sentenced to ten years in prison.
In addition to being illegal, gay sex carries a three-year prison sentence.
The Ghanaian bishops stated in a statement released in August that Western nations have to "quit the ceaseless attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us," along with other prominent Christian organizations in the nation, according to the Catholic Herald newspaper.
"LGBT people may not be criminalized because they've committed no crime," said Cardinal Turkson, who has occasionally been considered as a potential papal contender.
It's time to start educating people so they may comprehend this phenomenon and reality. He continued, "To get people to distinguish between what is criminal and what is not crime, we need a lot of education.
The cardinal brought up the phrase "men who act like women and women who act like men" from the Akan language, which is used in Ghana. This, he claimed, proved that homosexuality was not something that was imposed from without.
"If there are cultural expressions, it indicates that the expressions are not wholly foreign to Ghanaian society."
However, Cardinal Turkson stated that he believed that "attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions... in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights" were the root of the current push in some African states to enact strong anti-gay legislation.
The Ugandan parliament passed a bill in May that calls for the death penalty in "aggravated cases," which include having gay sex with a person under the age of 18 or infected with a chronic illness like HIV. It also calls for life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of homosexuality.
Due to the move, the World Bank stopped making new loans to Uganda in August. President Joe Biden announced in October that the US will be pulling Uganda out of a preferential trading agreement due to "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights."
In 2003, Cardinal Turkson was named by Pope John Paul II as the first-ever cardinal from Ghana. Currently, he serves as the Pontifical Academies of Sciences' chancellor.
SOURCE: BBC.