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Claim: Multiple social media users across the country are claiming that Ghana has passed an anti-LGBTQ+ law, with offences including cross-dressing and public same-sex affection.
Verdict: False! The circulating video used to support the claim was recorded in 2024, not 2026. Although Parliament passed the bill at the time, it did not receive presidential assent to become law.
Full Text
Social media users are sharing posts claiming Ghana has officially enacted its controversial anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, often described as criminalising cross-dressing and public displays of same-sex affection.
Several Facebook posts and a post on X state that the law “has been passed” and is now in force.
One post reads: “New update on LGBTQ+ law has been passed in Ghana. Watch to the end for further details. No more cross-dressing!”
Another says, “The Law is the law. This is no longer an ACT but a LAW.”
The claims are accompanied by a one-minute video featuring Ghanaian broadcaster and media personality Afia Pokua, popularly known as Vim Lady. In the video, she explains provisions of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, including sections relating to cross-dressing and public displays of same-sex intimacy.
Some versions of the clip circulating online now display the date “02/03/2026,” suggesting the commentary is recent.
Given the prevalence of misinformation about Ghana’s anti LGBTQ+ bill, DUBAWA decided to fact-check this claim because misstating the status of legislation can create unnecessary panic, spread misinformation about citizens’ rights, and inflame already sensitive social debates.
Accurate reporting is especially critical on issues involving civil liberties and criminal sanctions.
Verification
The video is old; it is not recent. The footage dates back to 2024, when the 8th Parliament debated and passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
The original version was first posted on TikTok in March 2024 without the 2026 date stamp now appearing on viral copies.
The background has also been manipulated. Pokua’s original video depicts Ghana’s Parliament, but the viral copy superimposes the Statue of Liberty and an American flag, indicating that the clip was altered.
Side-by-side comparisons indicate that the original video has no date overlay, whereas the viral version digitally adds “02/03/2026”.
Also, as of 2026, the bill has not become law. While Parliament passed the bill in 2024, that step does not automatically make it law.
Under Ghana’s legislative process, a bill must be passed by Parliament, assented to by the President, and gazetted before it takes effect.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill has not completed all these steps and therefore has not taken legal effect.
Although Ghana’s Parliament approved the bill in February 2024, that version was never enacted because it still required presidential assent to take effect, and it lapsed when the 8th Parliament was dissolved after the December 2024 general election.
Rather than becoming law in 2026, the bill has been reintroduced in the 9th Parliament (elected in late 2024) for fresh consideration — meaning it must go through all legislative stages again, including readings, committee scrutiny, and possibly a final vote.
Describing it as “now a law” is inaccurate.
In the resurfaced clip, Pokua explains proposed provisions, including criminalisation of certain same-sex conduct, penalties for public displays of same-sex affection, and clauses relating to intentional cross-dressing linked to prohibited acts.
Her explanation reflected the bill’s content at the time, not the 2026 law.
Recycling the clip today without context gives a false impression that Parliament has just passed fresh legislation.
Conclusion
The claim that Ghana passed and enacted the anti-LGBTQ+ law in 2026 is false. The educational video being shared by Afia Pokua was recorded in 2024. A version of the bill was passed by Parliament in 2024, but did not become law because it lapsed upon the dissolution of that legislature.
