LGBTQ+ center in Accra closes after police raid, public outrage

• A community center opened by LGBT+ Rights Ghana was temporarily shut down following a police raid and outcry and harassment from religious leaders, government officials, and anti-LGBTQ+ organizations.
• Opened in January, the center provided paralegal services, counseling, and education to the queer community in Ghana, despite homosexuality still being criminalized in the country.
• The attendance of Danish and Australian ambassadors at a fundraising event led authorities to accuse the center of being a front for European intervention and an imposition of non-Ghanaian values and beliefs.

Read

“Anti-gay uproar after Ghana opens its first LGBT+ community centre” (Reuters | February 2021)

“Ghanaian LGBTQ+ centre closes after threats and abuse” (The Guardian | February 2021)

“Ghana security forces shut down LGBTQ office: Rights group” (Al Jazeera + Agence-France Presse | February 2021)