May 10, 2012 (GHP) — Gay-rights activists and homosexuals in Ghana have hailed President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage as a symbolic victory for the decriminalization of homosexuality in the country.

In a historic moment the president of the United States of America announced his personal support of same-sex marriage Wednesday during a televised interview.

Prince Kweku McDonald, who claims to be the President of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Ghana (GALAG), wrote in an email "President Obama now stands with us on the right side of history. I hope Atta Mills will use this opportunity to decriminalize sex between people of the same sex"

Gladys Okai, a Ghanaian woman, who was attacked for being a lesbian said

"My understanding of democracy is that everybody's right is guaranteed. President Obama is proving to be a proper believer in democracy ... he knows that people with other sexual orientations also have rights,"

“Obama did the right thing. Why in this day and age is Sodomy still a crime in Ghana? I am not asking for gay marriages. I am simply asking to be able to have a normal consensual love life with any human being without being prosecuted.” said Steve (who refused to give a last name)

Late last year, Ghana's President John Atta Mills said his government would never legalise homosexuality and a poll taken in December 2011 showed that 88% of Ghanaians backed his position.

With the exception of South Africa, much of Africa harbors a deep stigma against homosexuality. Violence has been rising against gays in the continent, and there have been cases of mobs digging up bodies from cemeteries in Senegal, allegedly of homosexuals, and parading them in the streets.