I consider myself an open minded, live and let live kind of person. As a matter of fact, when we had to vote on constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage in the state where I live, I voted against it for only one reason: to vote against the hate that brought us to that point. I think it is ghastly that people will be denied employment because of their sexual preferences. I think those who attack homosexuals should be dealt with severely. Yet here I am saying Ghana should have laws against homosexuality; but not without reason.

I saw a video of a Ugandan pastor showing his congregation a video of some homosexual acts that included feces in his campaign to have homosexuality banned in his country. Some people do some stupid things that do not reflect well on the homosexuality community and I can see how such things will scare the daylights out of a mother. Someone once told me about fisting which I will describe simply as sexual act that includes the fist. If this is how some people want to live, it is their choice and I have no qualms about it. My fear is that our system of education places our children in a very vulnerable place at a very impressionable age and for that, we should have laws to help protect them from influences that their parents cannot compete with.

The Ugandan pastor paraded a number of young people who talked about how they were lured in by the use of cell phones and laptops. At a very vulnerable age, we put our children in dormitories as they go through SHS. At the dormitory, they are away from the influences of their parents. It leaves them very vulnerable to people who may take advantage of them and introduce them to a life style that they may otherwise not be introduced to. I don’t think many will dispute the draw of a chance to go to a teacher’s house to use a cell phone to call a relative abroad or to use computers to surf the internet. Many mothers cannot compete with this draw which could lead a child into the hands of a predator who may introduce this child to a life style that the parents may deplore.

Until our system of education changes to allow our children to have access to SHS education and go back home at the end of the day to be exposed to parental influences, our government should have laws to reduce undue sexual influences that may change the life style of a vulnerable child. If we don’t do this, then we do not have a reason to have laws against sex with under-age girls. We should have these laws just as we should have laws to protect our children from undue homosexual influences at a young age.

Having said this, I do not believe we should let our laws became basis for a witch hunt. There should be no room for people to take the law into their own hands and go peer into people’s bedrooms. What two consenting adults do in their bedroom should remain their business. Our laws should be limited to curbing undue influences on our children and young adults. The police should be trained to differentiate between two consenting adults having their trysts in private and an adult taking advantage of an impressionable person. The government should also guard against people who stick their noses where they don’t belong and take advantage of the law to torment neighbors. My two cents

Tony Pobee-Mensah

tpmensahr@yahoo.com