Australian diplomat who helped commission LGBTQ+ office to leave Ghana
Gregory Andrews comes under attack for supporting LGBTQ+ activities
Anti-gay MP threatens Australian High Commissioner
The outspoken Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Gregory Andrews, will bring his service to an end next week, the Australian High Commission has announced.
A Facebook post by the commission adds that Gregory Andrews will be returning to Australia with his family.
Gregory Andrews, during his service, showed keen interest in Ghanaian culture and food, spoke about the rich Ghanaian culture he has enjoyed since he came to Ghana, and said it has had a positive impact on his family.
But Andrews came under fire in February, for attending and commissioning the opening of a community centre set up by LGBTQ+ Rights Ghana in the capital city of Accra, which was later closed down following an anti-gay uproar.
This activity led a team of 8 MPs, headed by Samuel Nartey George, to jointly submit a private bill to push for the criminalization of LGBTQI+ activities in the country.
The bill is dubbed the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021 and is currently being considered in parliament.
As the bill was presented before parliament, Gregory Andrews is reported to have posted that “to protect human rights sometimes our culture needs to adapt and that doesn’t mean being a different culture, it means accepting people for who they are, especially when they are not causing harm to anyone else.
“That is why on the LGBTQ+ issues, Australia will really encourage Ghana’s Parliament not to pass legislation that would discriminate the LGBTQ+ community or remove their rights or make it illegal for people to advocate for their Human Rights.”
In response to his comments, Sam George threatened to beat the diplomat. “I warned him that I’ll beat him in this town.”
When he was asked why he would do that, Sam George said “Why can’t I do that? If he decides not to behave like a diplomat, I will treat him like a non-diplomat.
Mr Andrews has however remained silent for some time now due to an unknown reason.
Below is the post by the commission
