Parliament on Tuesday, November 10, voted to rescind its earlier passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, widely known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, MyJoyOnline and Citi Newsroom reported.

The vote reverses the House's decision of Friday, May 29, 2026, on the bill's third reading. The bill is now expected to return to the House for further consideration, and to be passed again once inconsistencies in its provisions have been reconciled.

"Honourable members, the Ayes have it. The House has accordingly rescinded its earlier decision," Speaker Alban Bagbin announced after a voice vote, according to both outlets.

Why the vote was needed

Mr Bagbin told the House that the problems were picked up by Parliament's Legislation Drafting Department, which checks the final text of a bill against the decisions MPs took on it — a process he called "tracking".

"If they were just minor errors, the draft people could put them right. But once they are decisions, they cannot tamper with the decision of the House. It has to be brought back for the House to do the proper thing," he said, MyJoyOnline reported.

Last week, Majority Leader Agalga said on JoyNews that some penalty provisions had been worked out wrongly. "For instance, how to compute penalty units was completely done in error, in some cases," he said, adding: "So, not much of substance would change," 3News reported. Mr Bagbin has previously said only three clauses, all on sentencing, need work.

What comes next

  • Second consideration. MPs will go back over the affected clauses. This gives them a chance to correct the sentencing provisions and any other parts that need clarifying.
  • Fresh third reading. The House will then have to pass the bill again.
  • The President. Only after that would the bill go to President John Dramani Mahama for assent. Asked last week whether the bill would reach the President this month, Mr Agalga said: "Absolutely," according to 3News. No date for the second consideration has been announced.

Background

The bill was laid in Parliament on February 17, 2026, by a group of 10 MPs led by John Ntim Fordjour, and passed on May 29, 2026, with amendments that included exemptions for lawyers, journalists and medical professionals acting in the course of their work, 3News reported. Mr Bagbin later questioned how the bill had been passed, and a motion to rescind it was listed on the Order Paper on July 31 but was not adopted.