WHEN Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a polygamous Muslim with two wives, was elected President in 2024, an outfit called the Africa Christian Professionals Forum (ACPF) poured honey in Faye’s ears, saying, “We are all hopeful that under your enlightened leadership, Senegal will make significant strides in all areas and will play a central role in promoting peace, stability and development across the continent.”
What they did not factor in during their god-babble — “We pray and wish you God’s wisdom, grace and guidance as you commence this noble high calling” — was the country’s appalling record in regard to LGBTQ+ rights, which came to international attention earlier this year when Faye has signed into law changes to the penal code, doubling prison sentences for consensual same-sex relations and criminalising the promotion or funding of LGBTQ+ activities.
What followed was the the arrest of 12 people, among them Pape Cheikh Diallo, a well-known television presenter. Others included Djiby Dramé, a musician. And then there were tailors, stylists, photographers and young men meeting friends.
They were charged with committing “unnatural acts” — a term used to punish people for same-sex relationships. Some were also accused of “intentional transmission of HIV.” Some now face years behind bars.
The arrests led to an AllOut petition that points out that, before the new law came into force, Senegal was already imposing prison sentences of up to five years for same-sex conduct. Since 2022 Parliament had twice rejected efforts to increase penalties. But the new law increases the maximum sentence to ten years and expands punishments to include criminalising so-called “promotion” or “advocacy”, and even the “funding” or “support” of activities the authorities label as “promoting homosexuality.”
The role of Islam
Much of animosity towards LGBTQ+ people in Senegal has its roots in Islam. For example, in mid-2009 Muslim activists created the Front islamique pour la defense des valeurs éthiques (‘The Islamic Front for the Defense of Ethical Values’), advocated for homosexuals to face the death penalty.
Wiki reports that there were multiple reports around the same time of people digging up the bodies of deceased “goor-gigen” (a Senegalese term for “man-woman”) in cemeteries. Local and international press reported in May 2009 that the corpse of a man reputed to have been homosexual was twice disinterred from a Muslim cemetery in Thies. The first time, the body was left near the grave. After his family reburied him, the body was disinterred a second time and dumped outside his family’s home.
In December 2012, a gay male couple was viciously beaten near Dakar by one of the men’s parents after the couple was caught having sex
AllOut is urging people to sign its petition urging Senegal’s authorities to uphold equal protection and end all arrests, and to call on the European Commission to use its political dialogue and cooperation frameworks to defend fundamental human rights.
I have signed it and urge readers to do the same.
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