Many might not believe this new kind of evangelism that has started in a part of the country which is considered a melting pot by all standards.
Adherents of certain religions and advocates of some social campaigns would probably be shocked at this form of proselytizing as gays have started a crusade in Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region to teach residents how to patronize and practise safer sex just as partners in heterosexual relations encourage the use of safer sex methods.
The ‘how to practice safe same sex’ campaigners have adopted a mass education strategy where they circulate leaflets and flyers to residents, especially young male adults.
The colour-printed flyers are neatly folded into12 pages and are of very high quality, raising suspicion that they are being funded by some high-profiled persons.
Significantly, the front page of the flyers has the ‘Rainbow Flag,’ known worldwide to represent gay pride and also known as a symbol used in gay-friendly establishments.
The front also has the face of a smiling male with the headline: “It’s My Turn—11 ways to Prevent HIV and other STIs.”
The inside pages contain illustrations and literature on how to practise safe same sex.
It shows two men ensconced on a bed with their phallus in a combat-ready position while masturbating.
Another page also has an illustration of a bearded man licking the tip of a fellow male counterpart’s organ, with an accompanying inscription, “use of condoms for ‘sucking’ oral sex.”
Another page has illustrations of several male couples and talks about “reduction in the number of sex partners.” Yet another page shows illustrations and talks about having ‘thigh sex’ as an option to penetrative sex.
There are other pages that explain anal licking and other wild things that are rather unprintable for the sake of decency.
Interestingly, the flyers do not have a single contact address. Not even a phone number, an email address or a facebook account name.
Several residents have expressed fear and worry over the circulation of the gay friendly materials and have appealed to the leadership of the area, religious leaders, opinion leaders and parents to do everything to stop their circulation.
The residents said the acceptance of gay or lesbian activities was wrong and would destroy the youth of the area.
Speaking about the flyers, most of the residents who pleaded anonymity noted that they initially heard about them from other residents and did not believe it until they saw a lot more being circulated.
A lady told this paper that the first time she saw one of the flyers was when her 15-year-old son returned home from school with it.
She said when she quizzed him on how he came by the flyer, he said his friend gave it to him and explained that it was a gift from an older male friend.
The worried mother quickly collected it from her son and burnt it and warned him never to collect any of such material from anyone again.
It is unclear who is behind their circulation but there are reports of similar flyers seen with some young men in the area.
Another disturbing trend, according to one of the residents, was the growing number of white men in the area.
He pointed out that it was now common to see some of the young men in the area hosting some of these white men who were always referred to as “friends from abroad.”
Though without any evidence, the source speculated that most of them were gays who got in touch with their Ghanaian counterparts through the internet and decided to come to meet them in person.
“What some of our brothers do is to allow these white men here under the guise of friends who have come down for holidays. They then host them and are always seen together.
What we hear is that they do this to avoid suspicion from their own families,” he remarked.
Asked what he thought motivated those young men to get involved in something that was frowned upon in Ghana, the resident mentioned money as the key reason.
A lady who gave her name as Beatrice, a resident of Atta Deka, an Ashaiman suburb, was of the view that people who got involved in such acts were ignorant and also did not fear God.
According to her, it was “gaining grounds here because of the way the youth are being influenced by the Western culture,” something she admitted had transformed a lot of Ghanaian youth from disciplined young people to deviant ones.
She said that a lot of people would fear to get involved if the government clearly came out with severe punishment for persons found to be homosexuals.
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