{"id":576,"date":"2026-06-02T12:15:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T12:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=576"},"modified":"2026-06-02T12:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T12:15:19","slug":"speaker-bagbin-i-was-surprised-lgbtq-bill-was-passed-last-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=576","title":{"rendered":"Speaker Bagbin: I was &#8216;surprised&#8217; LGBTQ+ Bill was passed last Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 39 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has said he was surprised that the\u00a0Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, commonly referred to as the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, was last Friday passed by Parliament.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the press in Parliament, Speaker Bagbin said he had left specific instructions for the Bill to go through a consideration stage in his absence with the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor presiding.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.graphic.com.gh\/images\/2026\/June\/01\/bagbin.jpg\" width=\"100%\" class=\"float-none\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mr Bagbin said he was surprised at the sudden passage of the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill on May 29, stating he expected the House to only begin its consideration.<\/p>\n<p>He has since summoned parliamentary leadership, insisting such critical legislation requires broader consensus.<\/p>\n<p>Following the passage, there have been notable debates surrounding the lack of a quorum and procedural compliance.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Bagbin reiterated that implementing the legislation effectively requires public acceptance and proper process, not just a vote.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.graphic.com.gh\/images\/2026\/June\/01\/bagbib.jpg\" width=\"100%\" class=\"float-none\"\/><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"429\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=314&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fweb.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1983517742541754%2F&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=560&amp;t=0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphic.com.gh\/news\/general-news\/anti-lgbtq-bill-still-far-from-becoming-law-president-mahama-at-chatham-house-event\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VIDEO: Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill still has &#8216;quite a while to go&#8217; before becoming law \u2014 President Mahama at Chatham House<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On his part, speaking during a question-and-answer session at Chatham House in the UK on Monday [June 1, 2025], President John Dramani Mahama said there are still &#8220;some lapses&#8221; with the passage of the Bill, which needs to be sorted out and everything is in order before the President can assent to it for it to become law.<\/p>\n<p>He said there are several procedural and legal issues, for instance, surrounding the bill, which must first be addressed before any decision is taken on presidential assent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There is still quite a while to go before the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, commonly referred to as the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, passed last Friday by Parliament, can become law, President Mahama said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Watch the video below<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">VIDEO: Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill still has &#8216;quite a while to go&#8217; before becoming law \u2014 President Mahama at Chatham House event <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/x5QiwkieU3\">https:\/\/t.co\/x5QiwkieU3<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YWQJjTGKrM\">pic.twitter.com\/YWQJjTGKrM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\u2014 DailyGraphic GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Graphicgh\/status\/2061527489340420381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>President Mahama noted that the legislation has attracted significant public attention because of its implications for family values and social policy in Ghana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill has probably been the bill that has evoked the most interest in Ghana. It shows how important issues of family values are,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to him, questions have already emerged regarding the manner in which the bill was passed by Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>He cited concerns over whether there was a quorum at the time of its passage, as well as allegations of procedural lapses during the legislative process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been a few issues raised. One, that there wasn\u2019t quorum when it was passed. That\u2019s an issue that has come up, and then two, there were some procedural lapses in terms of its passage,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>President Mahama revealed that he had received information that the Speaker of Parliament was addressing concerns raised about the process through which the bill was approved.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that once the bill is formally transmitted to the Presidency, it will undergo a thorough legal review before any decision is taken.<\/p>\n<p>The President said the Attorney General and legal advisers at the Presidency would scrutinise the legislation because it originated as a private member\u2019s bill rather than a government-sponsored bill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt must come for assent and so once the president gets it, you go through it because you are not part of the discussion in Parliament. The legal counsel in the Presidency and the Attorney General would sit on it and make sure that everything is in order before the president is advised to assent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ghana&#039;s President John Dramani Mahama on navigating a changing global order\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nGDjCO9oAGM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>President Mahama also outlined other constitutional options available to the President, including referring the bill to the Council of State for advice if concerns arise.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that if substantial issues are identified, the President could return the bill to Parliament and specify the concerns that need to be addressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe president has another option. If there are some things that he thinks are a problem, he can refer it to the Council of State for advice. If substantial issues are raised, the president would return the bill to Parliament indicating exactly what the issues are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He concluded by stressing that the legislative process is not yet complete.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo there\u2019s still quite a while to go before that bill becomes law,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0The comments come days after Parliament passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, following amendments to the legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has summoned the leadership of the House over the bill\u2019s passage, insisting that consensus must be built around the legislation to ensure broader public acceptance.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Bagbin also expressed surprise at the manner in which the bill was passed on Friday, amid concerns raised by some lawmakers about procedural issues surrounding the approval process.<\/p>\n<p>Writer&#8217;s email: <joomla-hidden-mail is-link=\"\" is-email=\"1\" first=\"ZW5vY2guZnJpbXBvbmc=\" last=\"Z3JhcGhpYy5jb20uZ2g=\" text=\"ZW5vY2guZnJpbXBvbmdAZ3JhcGhpYy5jb20uZ2g=\" base=\"\">This email address is being protected from spambots. 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Speaking to the press in Parliament, Speaker Bagbin said he had left specific instructions for the Bill to go through a consideration&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}