State homophobia is consolidated in Senegal
Senegal caught the attention of many international media outlets when, a few days ago, its Parliament approved toughening penalties against homosexuality. If it was already punishable by 5 years in prison before, the punishment will now be 10 years and economic fines that can reach up to 15,000 euros – in a country where per capita GDP does not reach 1,800 dollars annually—. The news has allowed a portrayal of the European right and left, who have interpreted it based on usual prejudices. The right has spread this news as a definitive demonstration to reach a pre-cooked conclusion: the prevailing homophobia in Senegalese society forces us to prevent the entry of people from this country, and they forget that one does not need to go to West Africa to find homophobia. The left has shirked responsibility or has blamed the situation on the homophobia legally imposed during the French colonial period in the country. This last argument has a reasonable starting point: it was the colonial powers that, horrified by the pagan customs of many Africans in the sexual field, applied legal codes based on the homophobia of the time, building arguments around Christian morality. Nevertheless, the argument becomes ridiculous precisely because it ignores the desires of a good part of Senegalese society, 66 years after independence: both in the ranks of the current government, of anti-colonialist pan-Africanist ideology, and in the previous government, closer to Paris, the fight against homosexuality has been a constant in the recent history of the country. both in the ranks of the current government, of anti-colonialist pan-Africanist ideology, and in the previous government, closer to Paris, the fight against homosexuality has been a constant in the recent history of the country. If they had wanted to eliminate homophobic laws, they would have already done so. They have never been further from that. Of the 138 deputies who voted to punish homosexuality, 135 voted in favor and 3 abstained. No one voted against it. The Islamic associations that had promoted the proposal in the streets had been campaigning since 2020. The dominant message in Senegal and other countries in the region is that homosexuality is a Western import, and that local cultures must be protected from this foreign contamination. A step forward
The will to protect Senegalese culture contrasts with the travel companions of the movements that have promoted the initiative: according to Reuters, ultraconservatives from the United States have coordinated with the network of Senegalese associations that have promoted the hardening of the law. In the name of protecting Africans from external influences, the deputies of the sovereignist Senegalese government are joining forces with Christian extremists who are testing in Africa what they would like to do one day in the United States. These coincidences should alert us: those of us who believe that democratic laws and individual freedoms are above sacred books are, globally, increasingly in the minority. Senegal faces in 2026 a critical year in which it will have great difficulty paying its debt. The persecution of homosexuals, in this context, is a sovereignist victory sovereignist against Westerners alongside an economic defeat: faced with the impossibility of fulfilling its program, the Senegalese government offers its citizens a scapegoat that will barely offer temporary relief: Senegal will apply extremely harsh austerity measures and most Senegalese will live worse – and Senegalese homosexuals, even worse than the rest.
