The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has directed the House to reconsider the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, also known as the anti-LGBTQ bill, citing concerns about whether the level of bipartisan support reflected in the committee report was adequately demonstrated during floor proceedings.
Following concerns with the way the measure was passed by Parliament on Friday, May 29, 2026, the directive was released on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
The Speaker said he was surprised that the bill had been passed in its whole and that he had assumed Parliament would merely start the discussion stage before the proceedings were over.
The Speaker claimed that the committee report that went with the bill showed that the proposed legislation was unanimously supported by members of both the Majority and Minority sides. But he pointed out that during the House’s adoption of the bill, the same bipartisan agreement was not evident.
According to Bagbin, when a committee reports that a bill has bipartisan or unanimous support, the floor of Parliament’s proceedings and decision-making process should demonstrate this consensus.
“Neither did the proceedings of that day convey the unanimity, nor bipartisan understanding upon which the bill was initially promoted and deliberated upon,” he said.
Therefore, the Speaker believes that in order to guarantee that the bipartisan support documented in the committee report is appropriately demonstrated and reflected in the legislative process, Parliament must return to evaluate some aspects of the bill’s passage.
“My concern is that legislation of such profound national importance should proceed on a foundation of broad parliamentary support, bipartisan cooperation, and scrupulous adherence to the procedures established by the Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament. The legitimacy, credibility, and enduring authority of any law depend not only on the objectives sought to be achieved, but also on the integrity of the process by which the law is enacted,” he added.
He also clarified that “a legislation of this magnitude ought, as far as practicable, to command not merely the numerous support of a majority of Members, but also the broad confidence of the House regarding both its sustenance and the process by which it was adopted.”
Bagbin stated, “What is right must be done rightly.”
Source: newsthemegh.com