ACCRA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Ghana’s government has said it will not allow a major gathering of LGBT+ activists to go ahead after an outcry from conservative Christian groups in the country.

The conference, scheduled for July, would be the first of its kind in West Africa and aims to bring together LGBT+ leaders to share ideas and work together on changing discriminatory laws, according to the organizers.

Ghana is one of 32 countries in Africa that still criminalze same-sex relations, according to the latest report from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). It has emerged as a hotspot for debate in the region, where in many countries even talking about LGBT+ rights remains taboo.

“(The) Ghana government won’t allow such (a) conference and that is it,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Read more via Reuters