January 2, 2024

Happy New Year, Beloved Community:

At Silent Majority, Ghana (SMG) we spent 2023 in careful contemplation, monitoring changes in anti-queer policies and developing strategies to support the ongoing fight for queer freedom. Our vision for a world in which queer Ghanaians can live freely and feel a sense of belonging in their communities remains as clear as ever. We continue to believe that through popular education, collective organizing, and transnational collaborations, we can make this vision a reality.

As many of you may know, last year saw ongoing efforts by Ghana’s parliament to pass the anti-queer bill, a process which allegedly cost the Ghanaian taxpayer over 900,000 GHS during a 9-day period of public hearings. That is nearly 75,000 USD, while hospitals and schools are under-resourced, roads remain unpaved and dangerous to drive on, and inflation runs rampant, making life difficult for many Ghanaians. As I write, Parliament continues to discuss this bill with no end in sight, and a media frenzy that sustains anti-queer sentiments remains. Rightify Ghana, which monitors and documents abuses against queer people has found no shortage of such instances, reminding us of the dangers that queer Ghanaians face every day. Yet, just in November, the Cardinal of the Ghanaian Catholic Church became the first religious organization in the country to publicly condemn the bill, rejecting efforts to criminalize LGBTIQ+ people.

At the beginning of 2023, we made the decision to focus our attention and limited resources on establishing a strong foundation to support our work. This decision proved strategically sound and we made important progress for our efforts. First, Silent Majority, Ghana officially registered as a nonprofit in Ohio with federally recognized tax-exempt (501c3) status. With this designation, our organization can now fundraise. Fundraising will assist in our programming efforts by allowing us to secure full-time staff who will develop and distribute our popular education curriculum, support SMG members, and liaise with diasporic and Ghanaian queer rights groups to achieve our shared goals.