Senegal parliament votes to double prison time for gay sex

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

‘Homosexuals will no longer breathe in this country’

Anti-gay legislators at Senegal's National Assemby in Dakar celebrate the passage of the bill to double the penalties for same-sex intimacy. (Seyllou photo courtesy of AFP / Getty Images) — **Anti-gay legislators at Senegal’s National Assembly in Dakar celebrate the passage of the bill to double the penalties for same-sex intimacy. (Seyllou photo courtesy of AFP / Getty Images)**

Yesterday the National Assembly in Senegal unanimously approved a bill yesterday to double the prison time for gay sex, sending it to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye for his signature.

Faye is widely expected to approve the legislation, doubling the maximum sentence to 10 years, although he has not taken the lead in promoting the bill, a role taken by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.

Senegal is in the midst of an anti-gay frenzy.

Anti-homosexuality demonstration in Senegal. (Photo courtesy of France24) — **Anti-homosexuality demonstration in Dakar, Senegal. (Photo courtesy of France24)**

In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s vote, supporters of the bill, organized demonstrations in Dakar in which participants shouted “No to homosexuality!” and held signs with rainbows crossed ⁠out, Reuters reported.

Africa News reported that legislator Diaraye Ba declared during the debate, to the applause of some of her colleagues: “Homosexuals will no longer breathe in this country. Homosexuals will no longer have freedom of expression in this country.”

Between Feb. 9 and 24, a total of 27 men ⁠were arrested in Senegal on homosexuality-related charges , according to the International Federation for Human Rights.

Men have been arrested on suspicion of “acts against nature” and some for “voluntary transmission” of HIV – a crime carrying up to 10 years in prison.

Senegal’s existing anti-gay law, Article 319 of the Penal Code, provides for prison terms of one to five years for people convicted of “acts against nature”.

The new bill, which passed 135–0 with 3 abstentions, would criminalize “any sexual act or act of a sexual nature between two people of the same sex”.

It would also threaten prison terms of three to seven years for “anyone who engages in advocacy” for same-sex relations. It would establish a crime of accusing someone of same-sex offenses “without proof”.

Under the bill, the maximum sentence of 10 years would apply if the gay sex was committed with a minor.

Additional fines of two million to 10 million CFA francs ($3,500 to $17,600) would be imposed, compared to 100,000 to 1.5 million CFA francs previously.

AFP reported on Senegal’s anti-gay panic:

Social media in Senegal have been flooded in recent weeks with homophobic messages and calls to out individuals accused of same-sex activity.

The highly publicized arrests have spawned headlines such as “Big homo clean-up” and “Bisexuals, walking dangers”.

We freed four Muslim men imprisoned when their imam called them gay

Stories in recent days have also conflated the arrests for same-sex relations with a separate child sex abuse affair.

In that case, investigators dismantled a gang accused of sexual violence against minors, arresting 14 people.

Repression of same-sex relations is politically advantageous in a country where homosexuality is widely regarded as deviant.

‘Homosexuals will no longer breathe in this country’

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