Tensions over LGBTQ rights in Senegal are escalating after Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko launched a fiery attack on Western nations, accusing them of trying to force homosexuality on African societies.

Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has strongly criticised what he described as Western “tyranny” over LGBTQ issues, insisting that Senegal will not bow to outside pressure on homosexuality laws.

Speaking before lawmakers on Friday, Sonko claimed that Western countries were using their wealth and media influence to push values that do not align with Senegalese culture and beliefs.

“There are eight billion people in the world, but there is a small nucleus called the West which, because it has resources and controls the media, wants to impose homosexuality on the rest of the world,” he said.

The remarks come just weeks after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed a controversial new law that significantly toughens penalties for same-sex relationships in the Muslim-majority West African nation.

Under the updated legislation, same-sex relations — referred to in the law as “acts against nature” — now carry prison sentences of between five and 10 years, up from the previous one to five years.

The law also introduces penalties of three to seven years in prison for anyone found guilty of promoting or financing same-sex relationships.

LGBTQ rights remain a deeply divisive issue in Senegal, where many view gay rights campaigns as an attempt by Western nations to impose foreign values on African societies.

Before becoming prime minister in 2024, Sonko had already vowed to make same-sex relations a more serious criminal offence, moving it beyond its earlier classification as a misdemeanour.

Source: cbinews.tv

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