I won’t return to Parliament if anti-LGBTQ bill stalls in 9th Parliament – NDC’s Emmanuel Bedzrah
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ho West and Sponsor of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill (Anti- LGBTQ bill), Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah, has vowed not to return to Parliament as an MP, if the bill is not passed before the end of the 9th Parliament.
Describing the bill as long-delayed, Bedzrah argued that Parliament has been drawing criticisms from the public for “allowing the bill to linger for more than a year.”
During an appearance on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, January 27, the Ho West MP described his pledge as a form of protest, blaming what he termed as the internal disagreement between Parliament’s leadership and the Executive for the slowdown and insisted that the bill can still be passed in the 9th Parliament.
“Quite frankly I even stated it here the last time I came that if this bill is not passed in parliament, I want to repeat it again, if it’s not passed in this current parliament I will not return to parliament, I mean, and you can quote me… yes, in protest I will not come back and I’m sure that we’ll pass it before the end of this parliament,” he said.
Bedzrah explained that the delay is not primarily about the bill’s content, but about how it should be introduced and “owned,” as a government-sponsored public bill or as a private members’ bill backed by members of both caucuses.
According to him, the executive branch prefers to reframe it as a public bill, while Parliament’s leadership is choosing to forward it as a bipartisan private bill to prevent the government from “taking all the credit.”
“Why it hasn’t been done is between parliamentary leadership and executive. Now, the executive wants it to come as a public bill, they met the Attorney-General and he also believes that it should come as a public bill. Now that’s a coalition
The coalition thinks that government should bring it but leadership of the House also thinks that it should be a bipartisan bill and not limited to the executive where they will take credit. So, parliament should pass it as a private bill where all of us will have an input in it. That is where we have the problem now and it’s delaying it for me,” he elaborated.
Hon. Bedzrah indicated that the bill’s legislative path is still intact, noting that the next major stage is for the relevant committee to resume work leading into a second reading and subsequent consideration.
The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill (Anti-LGBTQ Bill), initially approved by Parliament in February 2024 with bipartisan backing, proposed a 3-year jail term for persons who identify as gay, and 5 to 10 years for individuals who promote or advocate for LQBTG, but failed to come into effect without a presidential assent prior to the dissolution of the 8th Parliament.
The bill lapsed prior to the 2024 general elections but was reintroduced in March 2025 as a private member’s bill by a group of 10 MP, consequently beginning the parliamentary process again.
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