Marginality and otherness: the discursive construction of LGBT issues/people in the Ghanaian news media

LGBT as amoral, immoral, and socially destructive

Through topic selection, the concealing of the agency of LGBT people and the silencing of their voice, the media construct LGBT issues as a threat to the moral fabric of Ghanaian society. This provides the basis for LGBT persons to be vilified, demonized, and treated as outcasts. Such exclusionist and discriminatory language is evident in the news content and in provocative headlines such as the following:

These headlines present the idea of moral failure and suggest that LGBT issues are dangerous to the mores and heteronormative standards of society. They thus give the impression that LGBT people are enemies not only of Ghanaian society, but also to humanity as a whole. The preponderance of negative verbs (e.g. ‘roars’, ‘flays’, ‘fight’, ‘abhors’), adjectives (e.g. ‘deviants’, ‘Satanists’, ‘senseless’), and nouns (e.g. ‘foolishness’) in the headlines above, and throughout the data in reference to LGBT people or their supporters, can orient readers to treat them as abnormal and a menace that must be expunged. This contributes to otherness deriving from binary constructions of ‘self’ and ‘other’ aimed at managing risk and preventing harm (Hier, 2011). A recurring pattern in the headlines is that they are often attributed to influential members of the society such as religious leaders, politicians, and actors. Hence, the discriminatory and potentially polarizing ideology that is produced and disseminated is given validity, thereby making it seem normal or natural. With specific reference to headline (5), for instance, the report states as follows later in the article: ‘According to the renowned lawyer, members of the LGBTQ are not right-thinking members of the society and hence do not deserve to be represented or shown mercy’ (Adom Online 10/01/2018). This assertion is used to reinforce the destructive connotations ascribed to LGBT issues and to make the point that there is an immediate need for interventional measures that will redress the moral turpitude caused by LGBT people.

Apart from the lexis and structure of the headlines and their emphasis on what is considered noteworthy, the thematic organization of the news content and the absence of counter-perspectives amplify the destructive frame associated with LGBT issues. Themes such as irrationality, strangeness and debauchery, which sculpt an identity of social nuisance and misfit for LGBT people, are prevalent in the news articles and are given legitimacy due to the absence of counter-arguments. The following extracts shed light on this.

1 The Chief Imam of Takoradi, Alhaji Mohammed Awal, has warned all Muslims to stay away from homosexuality, describing the practice as ‘dirty’ and ‘abominable.’ He urged Muslims that such ‘devilish’ acts would attract the wrath of Allah. (GhanaWeb 19/07/2015)

2 The Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Professor William Otto Ellis, urged Ghanaians not to create any platform for the discussion of ‘such abominable issues’. He said homosexuality was offensive, unacceptable and criminal in Ghana. (Citifm Online 01/08/2015)

3 Likening Ghanaians’ perceptions of homosexuals to what they thought of thieves, Prof. Oquaye said in an interview that same-sex relationships were created by Satan ‘to destroy God’s best formation, that is the human being. Very very evil. Dangerous. The church cannot allow it. God loves the sinner but he hates sin’. (Citifm Online 19/05/2018)

4 The General Overseer of the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministries, Reverend Steve Mensah, has charged the country to take a stance against homosexuality. ‘When was the last time you saw two he-goats attempting to have sex? Even in the animal kingdom, two males don’t have sex’, he told a cheering Christian crowd. (GhanaWeb 07/07/2015)

In the extracts above taken from news reports, the perceived depravity of LGBT issues as well as the alleged threat that LGBT people pose to the moral foundation of Ghanaian society is communicated using epithets such as ‘dirty’, ‘abominable’, ‘offensive’, ‘unacceptable’, and ‘criminal’ as well as verbs such as ‘warned’, ‘urged’, and ‘destroy’. The use of these descriptor designators and verb forms suggests that Ghanaian society is under attack from an external force that will destroy the youth especially and corrupt future generations. They can also be analyzed as an intensification strategy that heightens the deviance of LGBT people in order to encourage strong resistance against them. As Richardson (2006: 65) submits, ‘it is in the reporting of various social out-groups that hyperbole can take on a more sinister dimension’. Hence, the characterization of LGBT issues via the aforementioned lexico-syntactic expressions can be further considered as the exaggerated use of language to achieve an ideological effect (here, the othering of a social group perceived to be different from oneself).

To reinforce the immorality and amorality of LGBT issues, their purported consequences are highlighted: ‘would attract the wrath of Allah’ (1) and would ‘would destroy God’s best formation, that is the human being’ (3). The use of religious beliefs to justify the discriminatory discourse promoted is unsurprising because as shown in various studies, the contempt for LGBT issues, especially in media discourses, is rooted in Judeo-Christian-Islamic beliefs, with eschatological references that imply that LGBT people risk eternal damnation (Mohammed, 2020; Tettey, 2016). As one news report explains, citing a reverend minister: ‘there are implications for misusing any gift that pertains to your body. Homosexuals will not go to heaven as stated in Romans 1’ (GhanaWeb 29/06/2015). This religious allusion further contributes to moral panic and constitutes a discourse of fear that rationalizes the othering of LGBT people while promoting homophobia. Moreover, this allusion clarifies the use of adjectives like ‘dirty’ and ‘abominable’ to qualify LGBT issues, thereby suggesting that LGBT people do not place value on ‘purity’, ‘virtue’, and ‘cleanliness’. Hence, they are disruptors of the status quo and their actions contaminate the moral order (Murray, 2003).

Further to the point on religious allusion, the use of the label ‘evil’ as well as the reference to ‘Satan’ in extract (3) is noteworthy because it is pivotal in defining, establishing and maintaining a moral order (Lazar and Lazar, 2004). Whether it is used literally or metaphorically, the word ‘evil’ is powerful because it triggers a number of religious imagery embedded in religious/spiritual notions of good and evil. That is, it is possible for readers to associate ‘evil’ with forces of darkness and an iconographic term like the ‘devil’, more so when the expressions ‘Satan’ and ‘sin’ are also used in the same sentence. The binary opposition created (i.e. forces of good vs forces of evil) helps in the (e)vilification of LGBT people (Lazar and Lazar, 2004) by invoking intense emotions of morality that appeals to an external legitimate source of authority. This kind of religious judgment, which is passed on LGBT people, is likely to be effective because religion is ‘the ultimate moral force within the societal order of discourse of the day’ (Graham et al., 2004: 204). Given the important role of religion in Ghana, the lexical selection of ‘evil’ (and its intensification using the adverbial phrase ‘very very’) in combination with the nominal ‘Satan’ (and its adjectival form ‘Satanic agenda’ used in the report) indirectly imposes an obligation on Ghanaians to rise up against LGBT people. That is, if there is an appearance of evil, it must be eliminated at all cost. By formulating the discourse surrounding LGBT people as a moral issue, the media validate and normalize their marginalization via uncritical and unbalanced news reporting.

As already indicated, exaggerated language typically has a negative connotation when it is used to describe non-dominant groups such as racial or ethnic minorities and mental health patients. Hence, the overly simplistic comparison made between animals and LGBT people in extract (4), via a reductionist mechanism, can be interpreted as an intentional use of hyperbolic and insulting language in the construction of a moralizing discourse that serves the purpose of promoting homophobic sentiments. To strengthen the force of the message conveyed, a rhetorical question (‘when was the last time you saw two he-goats attempting to have sex?’) is also posed, thereby signaling that the point being made is self-evident. The vitriolic attack on LGBT people owing to their association with animals is not only disrespectful to them, but also functions as a dehumanization mechanism that encourages an insensitive attitude toward them.

The construction of LGBT issues as amoral, immoral and socially destructive is heightened by their criminalization as exemplified in the extracts below.

5 A private legal practitioner, Yaw Oppong, is calling for a specific law in the country to make homosexuality a criminal offence. He said although there are some provisions in the Criminal Code under which a homosexual can be prosecuted, a specific law must be enacted to declare homosexual relationship an illegality. (Citifm Online 05/10/2019)

6 Mr. Moses Foh-Amoaning, the Executive Secretary and Spokesperson for the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, has said homosexuals do not have any rights, insisting the act is a criminal offense. (GhanaWeb 16/03/2016)

7 The Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, has reiterated his position that the house will not be coerced to pass any legislation that endorses gay rights. According to him, the human rights arguments often advanced for such rights are not tenable. (Citifm Online 21/02/2018)

These extracts taken from news reports provide justification for homophobia by referring to the comments of legal practitioners (5, 6) and Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament (7). While the quotations, realizing an instance of intertextuality, are intended to give credibility to the reports, a close examination of the reports reveals that the voice of LGBT people is absent. This underscores the findings of previous research on social out-groups that show that their voice is likely to be excluded in news discourses that produce prejudice against them (Banda and Mawadza, 2015; Nartey and Ladegaard, 2021). The present study thus echoes previous work on the role of the media in the marginalization and exclusion of social out-groups by presenting (subtle and covert forms of) discrimination as neutral or objective language use. Assertions such as ‘homosexuals do not have any right’ (6) and ‘the human rights arguments often advanced for such rights are not tenable’ (7) can be analyzed as an oversimplification strategy rooted within binary, dualistic thinking that enables the media to express simplistic and dominant views that align with the status quo. In so doing, the media avoid a more nuanced discussion on LGBT issues and instead present homophobic discourses as normal (Mohammed, 2020).

It is important to state that Ghana’s laws on sexual offenses do not specifically mention LGBT or homosexuality – the expression used is ‘whoever is guilty of unnatural carnal knowledge’ (The Criminal Code Amendment Act, 2003). Yet, the media consistently cite individuals who lump together bestiality, sodomy, pedophilia, and LGBT based on their personal interpretation of the phrase ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. This feeds into a stereotypical narrative on LGBT issues and a negative representation of LGBT people, more so when LGBT voices are hardly emphasized in the news articles.

LGBT as unGhanaian and unAfrican

The media also frame LGBT issues as unGhanaian and unAfrican and hence legitimize the marginality and otherness of LGBT people. This is evident in a polarizing discourse that indicate that LGBT issues/people destroy the values that give ‘us’ existence and are therefore harmful to Africa’s/Ghana’s social protection. The extracts below illustrate this view.

8 The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, has urged the World Bank and the developed world to accept the fact that most African nations abhor homosexuality. According to him, the practice of tying aids to the recognition of gay rights and marriages in Africa is unhealthy.

9 The Presiding Archbishop of the International Council for the Clergy has lauded traditional African values that bar gay marriages. He said contrary to public notion that the Western way of life was far advanced and constituted the standards for modern civilization, the strong moral values in Africa that respect the sanctity of life had proven to stand the test of time.

10 The gaping disconnect between the chosen theme and our African and Ghanaian reality is best underscored by one erudite professor who captured our collective sentiments this way: ‘I don’t understand the connection between LGBTQI, Africa and Sankofa! Let’s protest!’ We want to voice our strong opposition to the hosting of the said Pan Africa-ILGA conference in Ghana with its associated deceptive theme and abuse of our cherished African traditional Sankofa symbol.

11 LGBTQI has never been part of our celebrated history or tradition as a Ghanaian people, not in the modern Republic of Ghana or during the great ancient Ghana Empire (7–13th century). Consequently, we cannot, and dare not, accept the direct linkage this ILGA group is making to something that is so non-Ghanaian in general and un-Akan in particular!

In the news reports (8, 9) and op-ed articles (10, 11) above, LGBT issues are presented as a taboo within the Ghanaian/African sociocultural context. To underline this argument, a selective quotation pattern is yet again used – the reference to professors (8, 10) and an archbishop (9) – to make the prejudiced discourse produce seem objective. The expressions ‘most African nations abhor homosexuality’ (8), ‘our African and Ghanaian reality’ (10), ‘our collective sentiments’ (10), ‘our strong opposition’ (10), and ‘our celebrated history or tradition as a Ghanaian people’ (11) create a strict ‘us’ versus ‘them’ distinction that connotes that LGBT issues are foreign/Western ideas that must be rejected or resisted. The use of pronouns such as ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘our’ has been extensively discussed as a way of emphasizing in- and out-group status and underscoring interpersonal distance (Nartey, 2020). Through the personal pronoun ‘our’, Ghana is described as anti-LGBT since the time of the ancient Ghana Empire (11) and LGBT people are depicted as unGhanaian/unAfrican. The strict in-group versus out-group dichotomy created is intensified by reference to ‘the World Bank’ (8), ‘the developed world’ (8), and ‘the Western way of life’ (9), which highlights the damaging effect of Western influences on Ghanaian society.

The use of ‘our’ can also be interpreted to mean that the writer of the op-ed article or the person quoted in the news report is concerned about the purported havoc that LGBT issues/people will wreak on Ghana. The choice of this pronoun further contributes to the conversationalization of the discourse, thereby minimizing the social distance between the news content and especially Ghanaian readers who are represented as the ones to suffer from the negative consequences caused by LGBT issues. The stereotypical characterization of LGBT issues as foreign/Western and hence anathema to Ghana is not surprising because studies have shown that many African leaders promote anti-LGBT rhetoric in order to oppose Western leaders’ advancement of what is thought to be an ‘LGBT agenda’ (Mohammed, 2020). Consequently, the legalization of homosexuality, for instance, in certain Western countries has received public backlash in many African countries, including Ghana, and has sometimes resulted in calls for the criminalization of homosexuality outside of Africa. The connection made between LGBT issues and westernization identified in this paper has also been found in studies on homophobia in Asian societies (cf. Liu, 2021).

The opinion piece from which extracts (10) and (11) are culled reacts to the use of an Akan symbol in the promotional material of Pan Africa ILGA, an LGBT association. According to the article, the association’s use of a traditional symbol belonging to a Ghanaian ethnic group is sacrilegious. Using phraseology such as ‘an abuse of our cherished traditional African symbol’, ‘deceptive theme’, ‘non-Ghanaian’, and ‘un-African’, the article, which claims to capture the collective sentiments of Ghanaians, accuses Pan Africa ILGA of promoting a false narrative. By forbidding Pan Africa ILGA from using the symbol and describing the association as a taboo breaker, the article writer projects himself/herself as the custodian of Ghanaian/African mores and the protector of the sociocultural beliefs and practices of Ghanaian/African society. Such covert articulation of moral superiority and authority legitimizes the exclusion of LGBT people from the body politic and normalizes calls for their persecution. Additionally, the word ‘abuse’ in the phrase ‘an abuse of traditional African symbol’ can be analyzed as an emotionalization strategy aimed mobilizing support against a social group perceived to be different from oneself. Given the importance of cultural symbols in African society, a suggestion that such artifacts have been deliberately desecrated by a social group that people already perceive to be aberrant is likely evoke anger among readers. When this taboo narrative is combined with the clarion call ‘Let’s protest!’ (10) and the assertions ‘We want to voice our strong opposition to . . .’ (10) and ‘we cannot, and dare not, accept the direct linkage . . .’ (11), the anti-LGBT stance communicated is heightened and the homophobic rhetoric is strengthened. Contrary to the notion that homoeroticism never existed in Africa until recently, research has provided evidence of same-sex attractions and relations in various parts of Africa in the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial period (Msibi, 2011; Murray and Roscoe, 1998). There is therefore a need for the media to present reports and discussions on LGBT issues in a more nuanced and balanced manner rather than advance skewed narratives through a process of homogenized subjectivity that is anchored in heteronormativity and homophobia.

The construction of LGBT issues as unGhanaian/unAfrican is reinforced by the indirect representation of LGBT people as aliens. As implied in the extracts below, the Ghanaian-ness/African-ness of LGBT people is questioned since their lifestyle is considered to be alien to Ghanaian/African culture.

12 Theresa May said her administration was ready to help African countries, including Ghana, change laws prohibiting homosexuality. But the Christian Council and the Catholic Bishops stated that same sex unions are alien to the Ghanaian culture and cannot be tolerated or accepted. (Starrfm Online 22/05/2018)

13 The Ghana Education Service has assured that no special sessions ‘have been organized or will ever be organized by the GES to train students as advocates for sexual rights, let alone LGBT rights which are culturally, socially, legally, moral and religiously alien to Ghana’. (Citifm Online 30/09/2019)

14 Former president, John Mahama, said cultures identified a group of people by their food, clothing, norms and morals and that Ghanaians were unique in their way of doing things and did not expect alien cultures such as homosexuality and unacceptable sexual orientations to be imposed on them. (GhanaWeb 24/10/2019)

The ideological position expressed in the media reports above is alienization, which refers to a mechanism that makes certain individuals and social groups unassimilable and excluded from the national body (Dechaine, 2009). By indicating that the sexual orientation of LGBT people is alien to Ghana, the extracts suggest that the conduct and lifestyle of LGBT people are outlandish and disturbing. The choice of the lexical item ‘alien’ highlights the notion of a standardized relational pair (Leudar et al., 2004) that performs a double function. On the one hand, it ‘strips’ LGBT people of a Ghanaian/African identity and on the other hand, it depicts them as outsiders who endanger the social life of Ghanaians, thereby making any attempts at opposing them acceptable. Consequently, the word ‘alien’ does not only constitute a derogatory remark used to marginalize a social group, but also functions as a discursive strategy aimed at recruiting support for an idea (here, resistance against LGBT people). The alienization of LGBT people justifies any (drastic) measures, including criminal laws, that will be used to ‘get rid of’ LGBT people as these measures are presented to be in the supreme interest of Ghanaians. Not surprisingly, there is public pressure in Ghana to manage the ‘risk’ posed by LGBT people through legislation and interventional programs such as the founding of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values.

LGBT as a medical disorder

Apart from the construction of LGBT issues as amoral and unAfrican, the homophobic rhetoric produced and reinforced in the media is evident in the depiction of LGBT as a medical disorder. By medicalizing LGBT issues, the media present LGBT as an abnormality akin to psychiatric or psychological disorders. The extracts below demonstrate this idea.

15 Today marks exactly four years when the Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Kweku Baako, stated that homosexuality is an act of people suffering from chronic mental disorder. He stated that ‘when it comes to these things, I am illiberal, I don’t think we should do anything to promote that lunatic behavior’. (GhanaWeb 19/03/2020)

16 The Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, has stated that homosexuality is a psychiatric disorder which can be treated. ‘We should deliberate more on the issue and think of a way to let them know that they are not well and that they could be treated’, he said. (Modern Ghana 26/07/2011)

17 National Women’s Organizer of the NDC said in an interview that homosexuality is a disease. According to her, ‘In veterinary you don’t have to condone homosexuality; you have to kill all animals that attempt same-sex mating. Why should we humans do that?’ (GhanaWeb 08/03/2020)

18 Nobody is ever born gay and there is no gene that makes some people gay, the Moses Foh-Amoaning-led Coalition has said. It cited the research findings of a Human Genome Project and stated that nobody was born gay and even if such a gene is found, it’s is an abnormality just as the hermaphrodite gene and albinism; they are defective gene. (GhanaWeb 19/12/2019)

These extracts pathologize LGBT issues, differentiate LGBT people from ‘normal people’ and produce various stigmata that contribute to their marginalization. The medicalization process is reflected in lexicalization such as ‘chronic mental disorder’, ‘psychiatric disorder’, and ‘defective genes’. These phrases are used to offer medical and psycho-analytic perspectives on LGBT issues/people in a manner that encourages stereotypical characterization and reinforces homophobia. It is interesting that the newspaper from which extract (15) was taken found it necessary to repeat a story they had reported 4 years ago on the medical abnormality of LGBT. This shows how the media are willing to reproduce the prejudice expressed in the extract. I argue that the medicalization and pathologization of LGBT issues serve the purpose of portraying LGBT as an abnormality in order to justify various forms of othering, ranging from differentiation to discrimination.

In an attempt to make the medicalization and pathologization process believable, a comparative strategy is adopted in (18) to formulate a one-to-one mapping between hermaphrodites, albinos, and LGBT people. This overly simplistic comparison and reductionist mechanism present LGBT people as individuals with genetic defects and feeds perceptions that being LGBT is not – and cannot be – a normal or natural sexual orientation. Such a comparison also masks the stereotypes projected onto LGBT people in that it effectively presents their stigmatization under the guise of empathy and showing concern for their ‘problem’ and/or ‘predicament’. This masking effect thus functionally relays to readers the bigoted view that LGBT people are abnormal people with abnormal behavior. To boost the force of the claims being made about LGBT issues, emphatic assertions such as ‘homosexuality is an act of people suffering from chronic mental disorder’ (15), ‘homosexuality is a psychiatric disorder’ (16), and ‘homosexuality is a disease’ (17) are regurgitated. This amplified homophobic rhetoric reaches a crescendo when a call is made for LGBT people to be attacked (and even killed) because ‘in veterinary, you have to kill all animals that attempt same-sex mating’ (17). Indeed, anti-LGBT violence has been recorded in Ghana in recent times, a notable example being the lynching of four men by a vigilante group because they were suspected to be homosexuals. The 2018 Human Rights Watch report also confirms the prevalence of anti-LGBT violence in Ghana.

Quotations are furthermore used to give credence to the medicalization and pathologization of LGBT issues by referring to a chief editor (15), a chief psychiatrist (16), a national women’s organizer of a political party (17), and the founding president of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values (18). This paper contends that the reference to these sources as presenters of ‘credible, scientific’ evidence communicates and reiterates a logic of institutional hegemony where counter-narratives are discursively delineated as less newsworthy (Asante, 2020). That is, the media construct and reinforce a specific worldview by conveying the ‘official’ and authoritative position on LGBT issues. I note Davies and Harré’s (1990: 48) explication of ‘positioning’ as ‘the discursive process whereby selves are located in conversations as observably and subjectively coherent participants in jointly produced story lines’. In the media reports analyzed in this paper, however, the voice of LGBT people is hardly given any attention. Their role and identity are thus determined by others (the media), thereby denying them the chance to formulate their own alternative reflexive selves, or at least articulate their position. The media thus (re)produce a flagrantly biased and an uncritical news content that legitimizes homophobia.

The medicalization of LGBT provides the basis to assert that LGBT people require medical treatment or spiritual deliverance as illustrated in the following extracts.

19 Four hundred homosexuals have registered with the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family to undergo voluntary counselling and reformation . . . Mr. Amoaning also said the coalition would set up a Holistic Sexual Therapy Unit to deal with victims of homosexuality. The Unit will have psychiatrists, psychologists, medical personnel, surgical team, counselors, religious leaders and experts in traditional medicine. (Starrfm Online 21/08/2018)

20 The Volta Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service has said it will refer the students of the St Pauls’ Senior High School in the Volta Region, who were alleged to be homosexuals to psychiatrists for help. (Citifm Online 23/02/2015)

21 The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye, has said gay people are humans with deviant conduct who should either be treated medically or subjected to spiritual deliverance. (Myjoy Online 30/10/2019)

Foregrounding the pronouncements of ‘newsmakers’, the extracts above illustrate that there is an urgent need for LGBT people to receive medical treatment or be subjected to exorcism. Readers are therefore primed to believe that ‘normal’ people cannot coexist with LGBT people in view of which the latter must be counseled, undergo reformation and be reintegrated into society. The implication here is that until LGBT people are treated and pronounced ‘healthy’ or ‘normal’, they remain a threat. The need to refer LGBT people to psychiatrists (20) and to set up a holistic sexual therapy unit (19) implies that LGBT issues must be given serious attention; hence, the need for psychologists, medical personnel, surgical team, counselors, etc. (19). The phrase ‘victims of homosexuality’ (19) is also instructive as it casts LGBT persons in the mold of (sexual) predators who ruthlessly exploit unsuspecting victims. Furthermore, the reference to ‘spiritual deliverance’ (21) underscores the demonization of LGBT issues, so much so that LGBT people – like other individuals in Ghana whose behavior is associated with superstitious beliefs (e.g. drug addicts, mental health patients) – are expected to seek spiritual assistance. The net effect of the above is the media’s articulation of a polarizing and divisive ideology that establishes and maintains heteronormativity as a form of hegemonic power, while claiming to be objective and neutral.