Claim: Andrew Solomon criticises former President Mahama’s opposition to LGBTQ practices

Source: Visual card

Verdict: FALSE

Researched by Sedem Kwasigah

Has popular LGBTQ activist, Andrew Solomon criticized former President John Dramani Mahama, over his opposition to LGBTQ practices?

A flyer shared on X/Twitter claims the popular activist has described John Mahama’s commentary on LGBTQ to be “extremely depressing.”

A screenshot of the post on X/Twitter

The former President recently voiced his opposition to LGBTQ practices, citing a conflict with his Christian faith: “My faith is against LGBTQ. I am a member of the Assemblies of God. This is due to the fact that the faith I have does not allow for the marriage of people with the same sex,” he said.

The post on X/Twitter has gathered 12.6k views, 38 reposts, 102 likes and 62 comments since it was shared on January 31, 2024.

Background

Andrew Solomon came into the Ghanaian media limelight in 2013, when it emerged that the popular LGBTQ activist hosted a party to celebrate the publication of the former President’s memoir,  My First Coup d’État.

This has since fuelled speculations and conspiracies that the relationship between the two could be a lobbying effort to promote LGBTQ rights in Ghana.

Subsequently, Andrew Solomon published a rejoinder in the New York Times and on his website to clarify his relationship with the former President.

Fact-Check

To fact-check this claim, GhanaFact conducted an online search about the quote attributed to Andrew Solomon and found no credible media organisation has published it.

Also, advanced searches conducted on social media and publishing platforms, including X/Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, did not produce any positive results because no such comment was found to have been made by Andrew Solomon.

To authenticate the claim, GhanaFact contacted Andrew Solomon via the contact page of his website, asking if he had made such a comment about former President John Dramani Mahama after he declared his stance on LGBTQ practice.

He responded to GhanaFact and said, “I never said any such thing.”

Verdict

The claim attributed to Andrew Solomon is rated false.