Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, has declared that he is in favor of the non-criminalization of homosexuality.
He claims that the Catholic Church has been very clear about gay people’s rights, and as a member, he agrees with the church’s stance.
The Effutu lawmaker stated during an interview with TV3’s parliamentary reporter Komla Kluste on Tuesday, November 28.
“I am a Catholic and the position of the Catholic church is very clear, the law is very and I don’t think that what the church has said I should hold a contrary view to it.
“The church says that by the culture of Africans, we are against same-sex marriage but it is also against criminalizing somebody who has that sexual orientation. I am a catholic, I don’t hold a contrary view to what the Catholic church is saying.”
He stressed “The Catholic Church is saying it will be wrong to criminalize somebody’s sexual orientation and so be it. I don’t think that somebody claiming to be a lesbian or gay should go to jail. by virtue of that.”
His remarks follow those made by Cardinal Peter Turkson, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences, who stated that homosexuality does not need to be made a crime.
He asserted that those who identify as gay or lesbian have never committed a crime.
“LGBT people may not be criminalized because they’ve committed no crime. To criminalize anybody, you need to identify the crime,” he said.
On November 27, 2023, Cardinal Peter Turkson made this statement in an interview with BBC Hardtalk.
He outlined the reasons behind the attempts to pass legislation prohibiting homosexual activity, “What caused all of this is an attempt to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions… in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights”.
