Ghanaian authorities have shut an LGBT resource centre that was recently opened in the country’s capital, Accra, following a public outcry.
“We no longer have access to our safe space and our safety is being threatened. We call on all human rights organizations, and allies to speak out against these attacks and hate crimes we are being subjected to,” the LGBT+ Rights Ghana group said on Twitter.
Rights groups, including National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values and the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC), have been calling on the government to close the centre.
The centre was opened with a fundraiser attended by a number of EU and foreign diplomats.
Photos of the opening were widely circulated, eliciting mixed reactions.
Ghana is one of 32 countries in Africa that still criminalise same-sex relations, according to the latest report by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).