Feminist accountability: deconstructing feminist praxes, solidarities and LGBTQI1 activisms in Ghana 1 Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed 1, * 1 College of Journalism & Mass Communication, The University of Georgia, Athens, USA *Corresponding author: Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed, College of Journalism & Mass Communication, The University of Georgia, 120 Hooper Street, Athens, GA 30602-3018, USA. Email: wunpini@uga.edu Abstract This article examines how mainstream feminist organizations in Ghana worked to support LGBTQIþ communities when they were subjected to state and institutionalized violence in February 2021. Through an African feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) of the solidarity statements issued by feminist and gender advocacy organizations, I highlight the way that mainstream feminist groups relate to LGBTQIþ communities. I argue that although there is increasing visibility in activism and organizing around issues affecting queer and trans Ghanaians, feminist and gender advocacy groups which have dominated the organizing space in the country are actively working to undermine the work that radical activists are doing to create a better society for LGBTQIþ people. I contextualize the study within recent theory and praxis around queer and trans issues while drawing attention to the ways that feminist groups are falling short when it comes to LGBTQIþ organizing in the country and what they could do better. Keywords: African feminisms, feminist solidarity, African feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA), intersectionality, sexuality Since the 2000s, Ghana has been hailed as a beacon of de- mocracy for conducting what is widely regarded as peaceful elections, holding peaceful power transitions, and having a relatively free press (Alhassan et al., 2018). There have been extensive discussions about the vibrance of Ghana’s democracy and the role that the press, the state, civil soci- ety, and the citizenry have played in upholding these demo- cratic principles. What this sanitized history and framing of Ghana ignores is the ways in which people marginalized be- cause of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and disability among others are pushed to the periphery of the national democratic agenda. LGBTQIþ people are largely marginal- ized in the national imaginary and there has been increasing physical and psychological violence directed at sexual mi- norities in the country (Adjepong, 2021; Dankwa, 2021; Quarshie et al., 2020). This violence is institutionalized in the sense that education, religion, political, legal, and social institutions work together to entrench homophobia in the country (Mohammed, 2019). In the face of such animosity toward LGBTQIþ people in the public sphere, there are several advocacy organizations in the country that are working together to provide safe spaces and community for gender and sexual minorities (Adjepong, 2021; Gore, 2018). The pervasiveness of Christian religious discourses and their legitimization in the public sphere has often undermined advocacy around the rights of sexually marginalized people (Asante, 2020). This has led to the presentation of an anti-gay bill before Ghana’s parliament in July 2021. In May 2021, police arrested 21 LGBTQIþ activists and detained them in Ho in the Volta Region for several weeks (Mohammed, 2021). On January 31, 2021, LGBT Rights Ghana, an advocacy organization, opened a community center in Accra to pro- vide a safe space for queer and trans people to commune away from the everyday physical, emotional, and psycho- logical violence they are subjected to. On February 24, 2021, violence was visited on this safe space through a state-sanctioned police shut down. The year 2021 is there- fore critical to understanding the current state of public dis- courses on LGBTQIþ identities. This chain of events launched LGBTQIþ rights into main- stream discussions in the public sphere with many media organizations and state actors presenting blatantly homopho- bic frames around these narratives (Mohammed, 2021). Silent Majority, Ghana, a transnational queer feminist collective, re- leased a solidarity statement that was signed by over 1200 Ghanaians in support of the rights of queer and trans people (Silent Majority, Ghana, n.d.). In time, feminist and gender advocacy groups began to stand in solidarity with LGBTQIþ people by releasing various statements. In this article, I critically examine the acts of solidarity of feminist and gender advocacy organizations utilizing an African feminist critical discourse analytical (FCDA) and theoretical framework. I contextualize the reading of these statements within the political landscape of Ghanaian femi- nisms. I unpack the exclusionary politics of this space while drawing attention to the generational tensions and respect- ability politics that emerge out of these spaces through the discourses presented. I argue, therefore, that although there is increasing visibility in activism and organizing around issues affecting queer and trans Ghanaians, feminist and gender advocacy groups which have dominated the organiz- ing space in the country are actively working to undermine the work that radical activists are doing to create a better society for LGBTQIþ people. I therefore call for a shift toward feminist accountability and solidarity in Ghanaian social movements to strengthen the activist praxes of these organizations. Received: 6 December 2021. Revised: 15 June 2022. Accepted: 1 July 2022 V C The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com Communication, Culture and Critique, 2022, 00, 1–8 https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcac031 Original Article Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ccc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ccc/tcac031/6652252 by Qatar National Library user on 31 July 2022