The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has called on the United States to legalise polygamy first before attempting to dictate to other countries on what to do with LGBT rights.
Speaking after the United States Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia E. Palmer, said Ghana could face economic consequences if gays are discriminated against, George said the United States had no moral right to lecture any other country when they also deny rights to some of their citizens.
“We will take a lecture from the American ambassador when her government decides not to discriminate against people who have a right to polygamy in the United States.
“When the US is able to respect the right of persons to have more than one wife legally, which is allowed in Ghana. When they respect the right of persons to marry multiple women or multiple men as they so choose which is also the fundamental human right to association, then we will have a conversation,” Sam George submitted on The Probe, a programme that aired on JoyNews on Sunday, December 11.
He continued: “But until they (the American government) are able to respect the right of persons in the US who want to be polygamous, then they don’t have any moral right to talk to us.”
George’s comments follow Palmer calling for tolerance for LGBT Ghanaians.
She said that discrimination against homosexuals in Ghana will have a telling adversity on the economy of the developing country as investors and potential investors may pull out of the country if they think the rights of their workers cannot be protected
The Ambassador made this known while speaking on Accra-based Joy News.
She insists she is not promoting homosexuality but rather advocating for the rights of people who have different sexuality.
“United States isn’t asking for special rights for homosexuals. We are asking that they receive the same rights that all other Ghanaians have. I want to be clear that we are not trying to promote homosexuality. We don’t want your straight children to be gay. We want your gay children to be safe. I think it’s very important that any threat on one group demonstrates that the rights of other people can be encroached on. Discrimination of any kind is bad.
“This kind of discrimination will be bad for public order. We’ve already seen violence against LGBT persons which I think is terribly unfortunate. It is bad for public health because people won’t seek the kind of health care they need. For example HIV, and monkeypox if they think they are going to be stigmatized. It could be bad for the Ghanaian economy because there will be pressure from companies to say I can’t be headquartered in Ghana if the rights of the Ghanaian people are not safe or people are not safe on the streets. It kind of sends that signal that…” she said.
Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com