Few days ago, former Metro TV journalist, Ignatius Annor openly declared himself as being gay and he has since then jumped on a campaign to advocate for LGBTQI rights to be recognized in Ghana.
His latest encounter with the media did not go too well as the Euro News journalist decided to boycott an interview with Angel FM’s Captain Smart midway.
Throughout the interview which lasted a little under 25 minutes, the disagreement between the two journalists surrounding LGBTQI+ promotion become clear with each single question posed by the interviewer.
Ignatius on one hand sought to explain to Captain Smart why Ghanaians need to be accepting and accommodating of gay people and their activities.
He argued that not all persons could possibly be heterosexual and that some people were born gay hence the need to have a society that is accepting of such persons.
“I don’t know but what is the criminality here if a man says I have love for another fellow man or I have love for another fellow woman. What is the crime here?” he questioned.
He further pointed out to Captain Smart that he had taken a troubling position on the matter by stating that people arguing for gay rights recognition in Ghana were attempting to dilute the cultural setup of the country.
“One of those troubling issues for the LGBTQI+ community is the position that you as a media person holds and your line of questioning is not doing any good. That is not doing us any good,” he stated.
Captain Smart along the lines then inquired from the journalist whether he identifies as a female or male, Annor answered that he was male.
He further attempted to find out the sexual role of his interviewee in his relationship.
“I find your question very disrespectful and I will not answer your question. I find your question dehumanizing and disrespectful because I have not asked you that question as a straight man. So you can’t ask me that and it’s very unfortunate. As a human being you don’t have the right to ask that question,” Annor stated.
The host of the show who was insistent on knowing the answer to his question argued that Ignatius by refusing to answer the question was proving that he was ashamed of himself for being gay.
“I repeat myself again, for me to agree to speak to you on LGBTQI debate and for you to sit in your studio and for you to continue a narrative while for yours I have been dehumanized, I just told you that I can’t continue this conversation. Thank you,” was the response Ignatius gave before hanging up.
The legality of LGBTQI+ activities in the country has become a major conversation following the opening of an office by the gay community at Ashongman in Accra.
The incident caused public uproar with several political and religious leaders having condemned the office opening.
The landlord of the facility has however led the police to close down the office on grounds of tenancy agreement breach.
Skip to 2:25 in the video below to listen to the interview:
