DAKAR —The President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Fayehas wielded his executive power to sign off on a new law that doubles the maximum prison time for same-sex relations, slapping offenders with up to a decade behind bars.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye put pen to paper on the legislation Monday, with the statute officially appearing in the government’s journal the following day. The bill had earlier cruised through the National Assembly with an overwhelming majority, and it does not stop at punishing private conduct. Under the new legal framework, anyone convicted of promoting or financing same-sex relationships now also faces criminal penalties.
The United Nations’ top human rights official, Volker Türk, did not mince words after parliament gave the bill the green light, branding the measure “deeply worrying.” He charged that it flies in the face of the most sacrosanct human rights principles.
At the heart of the law is a crackdown on what it terms “acts against nature”—a phrase used to target same-sex intimacy. Those found guilty now face five to ten years in prison, a hike from the previous penalty of one to five years. Meanwhile, the law throws the book at anyone convicted of promoting or funding such relationships, with prison terms ranging from three to seven years.
On the ground, the dragnet has already been underway for weeks. According to media reports, dozens of men have been rounded up under the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws since February, when police detained a group of 12 men—including two local celebrities—kicking off a spate of arrests. In many cases, detentions have hinged on little more than accusations or searches of mobile phones, with incidents reported almost daily and the names of those swept up splashed across the public record.
The new legislation now penalizes anyone who levels an accusation of same-sex offenses against another person “without proof.” Lawmakers thrashed out the details for several hours before giving the bill their stamp of approval on March 11 in a vote of 135 in favor, zero opposed, and just three abstentions.
Under the statute, the maximum sentence is reserved for cases involving a minor. The financial hit is also being ratcheted up, with fines now set between two million and ten million CFA francs—roughly $3,500 to $17,600—a leap from the previous range of 100,000 to 1.5 million CFA francs.
A leading LGBTQ rights group, ILGA World, had made a last-ditch appeal to President Faye to hold the line and reject the bill, urging him to uphold “respect for individual liberty and the human person.” The debate over LGBTQ issues has long been a flashpoint in the Muslim-majority West African nation, where gay rights advocacy is frequently dismissed as a foreign import—a tool used by Westerners to impose alien values. Religious associations have staged demonstrations in the streets, demanding even tougher penalties.
The political heavyweight behind the legislation is Ousmane Sonko, a firebrand who rose to become the country’s highly influential prime minister in 2024. Before taking office, he had promised to reclassify same-sex relations from a misdemeanor to a full-blown crime. However, the new law—which Sonko himself presented to parliament—keeps the offense classified as a misdemeanor, even as it dramatically stiffens the consequences.
