Alexander Adu Gyamfi, a Ghanaian activist who addressed the crowd, told GAY TIMES it was important for him to attend as an ally because he feels it’s “unacceptable” for any minority group to be “victimised” by lawmakers. “I have a number of friends back in Ghana and a lot of people who have contacted me who have been abused, beaten, are in hiding, [or] have been chased away from their houses,” he said. “Gay people cannot speak up in Ghana, a lot of people are scared.”

The proposed legislation comes not long after Uganda enacted one of the world’s most extreme anti-LGBTQIA+ laws last year, which includes the death penalty for ‘offences’ like transmitting HIV. Papa De, a queer Ugandan photographer and activist who was also at the protest, spoke of the importance of remembering that “the queer liberation was not and will never be an individual fight”.

“I am from Uganda, meaning that we have gone through the same thing that is happening in Ghana right now,” they continued. “Unfortunately, we were not able to stop that, we were not able to stop the President from signing that bill, and now it’s a law with implications that have been really, really grave when it comes to the queer community that is living in Uganda and also abroad…When they oppress us, they oppress everyone. We are not free until we are all free and freedom belongs to all of us, not just certain people.”