Senegal Finds Unanimity: Against Its Gay Citizens

Unanimity, at last

Senegal's lawmakers rarely agree on anything. On this, they have now agreed twice, without a single vote against. On March 11, the National Assembly voted 135 to zero, with three abstentions, to double the maximum sentence for same-sex relations to ten years in prison, with fines of up to 10 million CFA francs (about $17,600). The "promotion" or "financing" of homosexuality now carries three to seven years. Defending gay people, in other words, now costs more than gay sex used to: the old maximum was five years. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed the law. On June 29, the Assembly added, by 129 votes to zero, that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, outlawing in the constitution a marriage that was never legal anyway. Activists quoted by Africanews say politicians are falling back on a subject that "draws unanimity".

"Homosexuals will no longer breathe in this country."— Diaraye Ba, member of Senegal's National Assembly, during the March debate

The law does contain one safeguard: it punishes anyone who accuses someone of same-sex acts without evidence. The falsely accused heterosexual can sleep soundly.

Now serving: the crackdown

The arrests started before the vote. On February 9, gendarmes in Dakar arrested 12 men for "acts against nature" and alleged intentional transmission of HIV. On April 10, a court in Pikine-Guédiawaye, a Dakar suburb, handed down the first conviction under the new law: six years in prison and a $3,300 fine for a 24-year-old man. On August 7, the prosecutor announced that 71 men had been charged with "unnatural acts" and that charges against 28 others had been dropped. More than 100 people have been charged since the law passed, including local celebrities. The HIV charges, meanwhile, have evaporated. A conviction also strips people of the right to vote, hold public office or work for the state. Human Rights Watch researcher Larissa Kojoué describes a climate of "constant fear".

The mob did not wait for parliament. In October 2023, in Kaolack, a crowd dug up the body of a man believed to be gay, dragged it through the streets and burned it in the town square, while videos went viral.

Public health, Senegalese style

Human Rights Watch denounces the use of condoms, lubricant and HIV medication as evidence of same-sex conduct, and community health workers fear legal trouble if their numbers turn up in detainees' phones. Men who have sex with men are by far the group most affected by HIV in Senegal, and health workers warn that harsher penalties will push them away from testing. The country has found an original way to fight the epidemic: treating prevention as a confession.

Against Western values, with Massachusetts' help

Supporters present homosexuality as a Western import. The loudest campaigner is And Samm Jikko Yi, a network of Islamic and civil society organisations, whose leader urged the president to sign quickly.

"These people, whom I consider a public danger, will continue to escape."— Imam Babacar Sylla, leader of And Samm Jikko Yi

According to Reuters, the same network sought campaign advice from MassResistance, an American "pro-family" lobby. Nothing says resistance to Western influence like a strategy call with Massachusetts. As for the ban itself, it is no colonial leftover: France stopped punishing gay sex in 1791, while Senegal's article 319 dates from 1965, five years after independence. Senegal is not alone: at least 32 of Africa's 54 countries criminalise same-sex relations, from Muslim Mauritania and Somalia to Christian-majority Uganda, all three of which provide for the death penalty.

Senegal's gay men can still breathe. Just not freely.