In a country where religious leaders openly condemn homosexuality and gay sex is punishable with jail time, Ghanaian couple Kay and Naa Shika fear more for their lives and safety than whether a church will bless their same-sex union.
They have lived together for eight months, hiding their relationship by pretending to be sisters, even as they face gossip that risks spilling into hostility due to suspicions about their sexual orientation.
“We are not safe,” said 27-year-old Kay, a lesbian woman who spoke to Reuters in the capital Accra on condition that her and her partner’s real names were not used.
Their precarious situation has not been helped by a landmark ruling in December, approved by Pope Francis, to allow Roman Catholic priests to administer blessings to same-sex couples.
The move, which has met particularly strong resistance and in some cases rejection from African bishops, has fuelled resentment rather than acceptance of the gay community among Catholics in Ghana, Kay said.
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has said that it cannot comply. Father Dominic Maximilian Ofori told Reuters he feared the Pope’s stance had annoyed many Ghanaian Catholics.
In January, Pope Francis said Africans were ‘’a special case’’“ in apparent acknowledgement of the pushback his decision unleashed.
