Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, Member of Parliament for Assin South and a key supporter of the controversial Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, has called for the immediate reintroduction of the anti-LGBTQ bill on the parliamentary order paper.
In an interview on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, Rev. Fordjour claimed that there have been attempts to dilute the bill and insisted that it must be passed in its original form. He argued that the bill, as it was initially presented and passed by Parliament, should remain unchanged.
“We’ve noticed attempts to weaken the bill. There have been manipulations to alter its clauses, but we’re not changing anything. This is the same bill that was presented, and it’s the same one we will pass. I’ve heard rumors about meetings with influential people to reach high-level agreements, but we will resist any changes to the core components of the bill,” Fordjour asserted.
He also criticized efforts to remove the bill from the parliamentary order paper without valid justification, stressing that the bill had already met all procedural and constitutional requirements.
“For it to be taken off the order paper without a solid reason is unacceptable. We’ve followed all the internal standing orders and constitutional procedures. We demand that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill be brought back today, and laid for first reading, so that the necessary steps can proceed. We don’t want to see contradictions or further delays,” Fordjour said.
Fordjour emphasized that despite opposition from some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the majority of Ghanaians, according to recent surveys, still strongly support the bill. “NDC has made it clear that they want to avoid this bill, but 93% of Ghanaians want it passed just as much as they did from 2021 to 2024,” he said. “So, we will insist that the bill be reintroduced today, as the Speaker has ruled.”
Speaker of Parliament’s Ruling
Speaker Alban Bagbin had previously clarified that the bill must be reintroduced in the current Parliament, following the dissolution of the 8th Parliament. The Speaker explained that the dissolution had nullified all pending business, including the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which had not yet been passed into law.
While the Majority Leader had argued that the bill had already been passed by the 8th Parliament and did not require reintroduction, Speaker Bagbin disagreed. He insisted that for the bill to continue through the legislative process, it must first be formally laid and read in the new Parliament before further steps can be taken.
