The Parliament of Ghana has passed a strict law according to which anyone who declares himself as an LGBT+ person can be sentenced to a prison sentence of up to three years.
The law also provides a prison sentence of up to five years for founding or financing LGBT+ groups.
Lawmakers rejected attempts to replace prison sentences with community service or therapy.
The passing of this law is the latest sign of growing opposition to the rights of LGBT+ people in West African countries.
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The law, which has been backed by Ghana's two leading political parties, will come into effect if signed by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
He had earlier said he would do it if the majority of Ghanaians wanted it.
Homosexual relations are already a violation of the law in Ghana and carry a three-year prison sentence.
Amnesty International warned last week that the law "poses a significant threat to the fundamental rights and freedoms" of LGBT+ people.
Activists fear that there will now be a witch hunt among members of the LGBT+ community and those who advocate for their rights, and some say they will have to go into hiding.
If this law is adopted, "it will increase fear and hatred, may trigger violence against fellow citizens and will negatively affect freedom of speech, movement and association," said Winnie Bayanajima, the head of the United Nations body that deals with the AIDS problem.
She added that the law will make it difficult to "access life-saving services" and "jeopardize Ghana's development success".
The law also provides for a prison sentence of up to ten years for people who join campaigns for LGBT+ rights aimed at children.
It also encourages the public to report members of the LGBT+ community to the authorities for "necessary action".
Lawmakers said the law was written in response to the first LGBT+ center, which opened in the capital Accra in January 2021.
Police closed the center after protests by citizens and pressure from religious and traditional leaders in the predominantly Christian state.
At the time, the Christian Council and the Pentecostal Council of Ghana said in a joint statement that being LGBT+ "is alien to the Ghanaian culture and family values system and therefore cannot be accepted by the citizens".
The law passed by the parliament is a watered-down version of the previous draft, so that prison terms are shortened and the controversial provision on conversion therapy is removed.
During the multi-day debate, Alexander Afenio-Markin, deputy head of the ruling party's parliamentary group, proposed additional changes.
He said that the legislators should decide whether people convicted of being members of the LGBT+ community should be sent to prison or whether they should be assigned community service and therapy.
However, the MPs who supported the prison sentence forced him to give up.
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