The producer of one of the drive time programmes on a leading radio station in Ghana contacted me a few weeks ago to ask if I knew a gay person who would be willing to come on her show to talk about being gay in Ghana. My immediate answer was No. Its quite sad but I do not know a single gay person in Ghana who would happily go on a radio programme to talk about what life is like in Ghana for a gay person. The other thing I realized is I do not know any people who are exclusively gay, the few people who I know are not heterosexual are bi-sexual and none of them will be willing to go on a radio station. Can’t say I blame them?
I did promise the producer that I would put a call on my blog so here goes:
“Are you gay and willing to be a guest on the drive time show of one of Ghana’s leading radio stations? The producer of the show is interested in finding out what life is like for a gay person in Ghana? Are there are challenges you face as a gay person in Ghana?”
If you are interested in this please drop me an email via adventuresfrom[at[gmail.com with your contact name and number which I shall pass on to the producer.
Personally I would be especially interested in hearing from gay/lesbian people via the comments box. What is life like as a gay Ghanaian? Would you be willing to go on a radio programme to speak on your experiences?
6 comments On Gay in Ghana?
I don’t live in Ghana currently but I’m Ghanaian and most of my friends here are as well. I don’t like labels but if I had to, I’d say I’m bisexual (more lez than straight for anyone who cares). It’s not fun, essentially leading a double life: guarding my phone and email with my life, going to lez bars alone (cuz I have no gay friends), having to endure ignorant disparaging comments/jokes about homosexuality, etc. That this radio show producer is reaching out like this is certainly an indicator that Ghanaians are no longer pretending like homosexuality does not exist in our country. Yet most of what I’ve come across in the media is cringe worthy at best: movies like 4play or ‘news’ articles like this one (http://news.myjoyonline.com/politics/201009/52181.asp). The bottom line is that we are nowhere near the kind of society where someone would feel comfortable proclaiming on the radio that they are gay, lesbian or even bisexual. However, articles like this one give me the slightest hope that maybe one day we’ll get there http://news.peacefmonline.com/features/201006/48169.php.
Nana, you can also make your call here: http://www.gayghana.org
I AM NOT GAY BUT GROWING UP IN GHANA IN MOST OPINIONIATED NEIGHBORHOOD (ADABRAKA) IT WAS NO PROBLEM FOR GAYS IN MY AREA. THEY WERE VERY LOUD AND PROUD, HOLDING ALL NIGHT PARTIES AND EVEN ONCE HELD AN ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY BETWEEN SOME OF THEM. NEVER THE LESS I AM GLAD MOST OF THEM ARE NOW FREE TO BE OPEN
Hi Nana, am a gay in Ghana and i wish to come for the talk show, to talk about my personal experience as gay guy in Ghana..hope to hear from you soon to know if is possible.
@Sappho – Do you feel like you have to endure disparaging remarks about homosexuality? Don’t you think you can speak up when someone says something offensive? Or is your concern that you may inadvertently ‘out’ yourself? I can understand the concern tho…just want to challenge you a bit 🙂 Thanks for the online references
@Aku – Thanks for the reference to ‘gayghana’…I checked it out. I have to confess though I was a tad dissapointed. It seemed to me to be more of a site for gay people to hook up. I was hoping for a site which also had intellectual, and possibly original content about being gay in Ghana.
@drkhnykrm – Oh my goodness! I wish you had chosen a pseudonym that was easier to spell. Thanks for your contribution. Yes, a lot of the times when i have heard about ‘out’ gays in Ghana there always seems to be a reference to Adabraka somehow. I’m wondering if there is really more tolerance for same sex relationships in Adabraka? I believe there is a gay bar there? I feel like i have heard a reporter on one of the commercial radio stations expressing how shocked and disgusted he was when he visited a gay bar in Adabraka. He for sure wasn’t tolerant
@Rescot – Cheers! Let me get on to the producer and then I’ll send you an email
lol send me an email. i will willingly do it.