The West African nation of Niger has become the latest country to introduce harsh legislation criminalising LGBTQ+ people.
According to AP, the country’s military junta confirmed that a new penal code containing provisions targeting the LGBTQ+ community has come into effect.
Under the code, anyone who “commits or attempts to commit an immodest or unnatural act or practices lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender, Queer, intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) acts” faces between five and ten years in prison, in addition to a fine.
The code imposes the same penalty on anyone who “artificially changes or attempts to change their birth sex” or attempts to enter into a same-sex marriage.
Same-Sex Marriage Participation Criminalised
The legislation also criminalises anyone who organises, officiates, witnesses, celebrates or participates in a same-sex marriage ceremony.
According to Erasing 76 Crimes, Niger has now become the 66th country in the world to criminalise LGBTQ people.
Niger’s new penal code forms part of a growing wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation in West Africa. Mali criminalised homosexuality in late 2024, followed by Burkina Faso in 2025.
More recently, Senegal adopted a harsh anti-LGBTQ+ law in March, while Ghana’s Parliament passed its own sweeping anti-LGBTQ bill in May.
Right-Wing Influence Fuelling Anti-LGBTQ Laws
Support for these laws across the region has been fuelled by populist claims that targeting LGBTQ people protects Africa from a so-called Western agenda promoting sexual and gender diversity.
In reality, activists and researchers have repeatedly linked the movement to well-funded European and American right-wing religious groups that support campaigns aimed at restricting LGBTQ and reproductive rights across Africa.
