Meet the straight ally who is protesting Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ bill

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Texas Kadiri Moro stood in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Accra on Thursday, dressed in short pink Speedos and a pink polo shirt. Accompanied by trumpet players, carrying a banner with slogans including, “Why should a society of evildoers judge others?” and “Justice begins where inequality ends!” he marched across the Ghanaian capital in a one-man protest against a highly controversial bill which targets members of the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters.

Moro is an unusual figure amid the LGBTQ+ rights activists in the coastal West African nation.

He is heterosexual, married to a woman, and a father of six. He is a teacher. And he is a practicing Muslim. Yet for months he has been conducting solo demonstrations against the bill, which criminalizes members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as its supporters, including promotion and funding of related activities and public displays of affection. It could send some people to prison for more than a decade.

The bill was passed by Ghana ’s parliament earlier this year but has been challenged in the Supreme Court.