Senegal’s President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, has given in to populist rhetoric and taken his country backwards by signing a harsh anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law.
According to France 24, Faye signed the legislation on Monday and it was published in an official government journal on Tuesday. The move follows worldwide condemnation of the bill and calls for him to reject the oppressive measures.
Senegal Parliament Passed Controversial Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill
The country’s National Assembly overwhelmingly passed the bill on 11 March to cheers and applause from lawmakers, despite the devastating impact it will have on the rights and freedoms of the country’s LGBTQ+ citizens.
The law increases existing penalties for consensual same-sex intimacy – defined to include homosexuality, bisexuality and “transsexuality” – to up to ten years in prison and fines of more than US$17,000.
It also criminalises the funding and so-called “promotion of LGBT ideology”, clamping down on free speech and outlawing any advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights under threat of three to seven years’ imprisonment.
Arrests and Crackdown on LGBTQ+ People in Senegal
The bill’s passage followed a broader crackdown on LGBTQ+ people in Senegal. Media reports indicate that authorities arrested more than 20 individuals in the weeks leading up to the vote.
Lawmakers, who perpetuate the false narrative that homosexuality is un-African, previously introduced similar bills in 2022 and 2024, but those efforts failed.
Role of US ‘Pro-Family’ Group MassResistance
According to reports, the American right-wing “pro-family” group MassResistance played a role in promoting the legislation in Senegal, with claims that it advised on campaign strategy and mobilisation tactics.
UN Agencies Condemn the Law
The law has drawn condemnation from the UN HIV/AIDS agency, UNAIDS, which expressed concern about the implications of the legislation for the country’s public health achievements.
Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, also said the bill was “deeply worrying” and “flies in the face of the sacrosanct human rights we all enjoy: the rights to respect, dignity, privacy, equality and freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
Ghana May Vote on Similar Anti-LGBTQ Legislation
Meanwhile, Ghana, also in West Africa, is set to vote on its own extreme anti-LGBTQ+ bill after it was recently reintroduced into parliament.
