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A Ghanaian student pursuing Biological Science at a US varsity risks losing his PhD scholarship over anti-Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) tweets.
The woes of Derrick Boadi Sakyi started when his posts were flagged by a Twitter user on July 21.
Papa Kojo Ampofo, who describes himself as ‘intersex’ and a pro-gay rights activist in Ghana, petitioned the institution where Sakyi was schooling.
“One guy sent me death threats and I just checked his profile. He’s been inciting hate for years…in one of his most recent tweet, he confessed setting up gay men to be beaten and blackmailed and said if Ama allows him to correctively rape her, he’ll get get her to the bar.
“I’ve found his name and details on LinkedIn and he moved to the US two weeks ago to start a PhD in Ohio. I want everyone to hold on tight because this TL is about to get bloody messy af in the coming days,” Ampofo tweeted on July 21.
According to the Ohio-based institution, “the Board has agreed to suspend his Fellowship and Funding until after the investigation which is now in the hands of the University.”
The university added that Sakyi had admitted to issuing the tweets and also sending anti-LGBTQ messages to activists in their inbox. He, has, also deleted the said account that he owned.
Ampofo posted screenshots of his petition to the school and their subsequent response in which it was confirmed that Sakyi risks losing his scholarship because of his views.
The institution stated that his scholarship was actually one that expected fellows to respect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and all other minority groups and that his conduct had contravened their guidelines.
“The goal of our fellowship and Funding is to provide access for minority groups including the LGBTQIA+ community, Applicants from the Global South, first generation students and people with disability.
“Our decision to grant Fellowship and Funding to Mr Derrick Boadi Sakyi to fund his PhD in Biological Science went through stringent selection and interview process. His Fellowship and Funding was given on the basis that he remains a good representative of our school and advocate or an Inclusive and Diverse school and work environment,” the school added.
