Ghana’s first openly transgender musician has released a song to boost the morale of the West African nation’s LGBTQ+ community as it faces a crackdown by authorities and a rise in homophobic persecution.
Hiplife and Afropop artist Angel Maxine said she wrote Wo Fie, meaning “Your Home” in the Twi language, to comfort LGBTQ+ Ghanaians who were not only facing threats from authorities, but also a surge in verbal and physical attacks from the public.
“The situation for the queer community in Ghana is very tense at the moment,” Maxine, 35, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from the capital, Accra.
“As Ghana’s only transgender musician, I had to do something to help my community. The song is to tell them that they are not alone, and also to tell others that we are also humans and deserve to exist just like them.”
Earlier this year, the country’s first LGBT+ community centre was shut down three weeks after opening following uproar from church groups and politicians.
Since then, activists have been arrested and lawmakers have introduced a bill that would criminalise LGBTQ+ people.
Maxine said there was little space for LGBTQ+ people in Ghana’s mainstream media, prompting her to write a song that could be released on social media.
Featuring popular Ghanaian musicians Wanlov the Kubolor and Sister Deborah, the song’s lyrics are about how anyone – friends, family, colleagues – can be LGBTQ+ and challenge the hatred directed at gay, bisexual and transgender people.
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