Senegalese lawmakers on March 11 approved a bill that would further criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations in the country.
The Associated Press notes the measure that Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko introduced in February would increase the penalty for anyone convicted of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual relations from one to five years in prison to five to 10 years. The AP further indicates the bill would prohibit the “promotion” or “financing” of homosexuality in the country.
The bill passed with near unanimous support. Only three of 135 MPs abstained.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is expected to sign the measure.
The National Assembly in 2021 rejected a bill that would have further criminalized homosexuality in Senegal.
Senegalese police last month arrested a dozen men and charged them with committing “unnatural acts.”
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, in a statement described the bill as “deeply worrying.”
“It 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,” he said.
Türk also urged Faye not to sign the bill.
“I urge the president not to sign this harmful law into effect, and for authorities to repeal the existing discriminatory law and to uphold the human rights of all in Senegal, without discrimination,” said Türk.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
Sign up for the Watermark Out News eNewsletter and follow us for more:
BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | Threads | YouTube
