Kwesi Pratt: Why can’t gays respect the human rights of others?

Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr is asking why homosexuals are intolerant towards others in society who condemn them based on their sexual orientation.

He said if gays believe they have rights which should be respected, then they should also not lose sight of the fact that others who detest the practice have rights as well and those rights must be respected too.

The issue of whether or not to grant legal rights to homosexuals and lesbians in Ghana has been topical in recent times.

Some commentators have argued that homosexuality is criminal and offends the laws of the land but that the same law is silent on lesbianism. Others also hold the view that accepting the practice will disintegrate the society.

On Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Tuesday, Mr Kwesi Pratt who was contributing to discussions on the subject claimed that some commentators who had publicly spoken against gays had been intimidated or warned through various text messages to desist from such acts. He said some politicians had even been threatened that they would lose the votes of these people should they speak against homosexuality.

The editor said the situation was not peculiar to Ghana because gays in developed countries have over the years battled governments to grant them social justice and therefore have a big say in the governance of those societies.

Some of these gays, whom Mr Pratt said hold influential positions, victimize people who attack them based on their sexual orientation.

Pratt was thus not surprised that the same trend was rearing its head in Ghana.

He however questioned why gays wanted their rights respected but have refused to recognize that others in the society who condemn them also have rights which should be respected.

He underscored the need to tackle the root causes of the canker if the nation really wants to eradicate the practice. He said factors such as poverty, distorted family structure, unhealthy tourism and the likes were responsible for the purported high rise in the number of gays in the country.

The human race would become extinct if society goads gays on, the editor cautioned, adding that “Imagine 70% or 60% of the population were homosexuals and lesbians, what will that do to the human race?”

Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana