Thousands of people gathered this Sunday, June 29, 2025, between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to celebrate the pride parade, armed with flags, umbrellas, signs, colorful clothing, and many other LGBTQ-themed accessories. It was also an opportunity for some to protest the policies of the new American government by holding signs with messages addressed to the Trump administration. There was dancing, singing, and a lot of joy. See you next year for a maximum of celebration!
“No to homosexuality!” Around a hundred people demonstrated Friday in Dakar to demand that the new Senegalese government adopt a law toughening penalties for homosexuality in the country, while an organization launched an initiative to this effect among parliamentarians.
Chanting “Homosexuality will not exist in Senegal” and holding signs calling for “Zero tolerance” and the “criminalization” of homosexuality, the demonstrators marched along a road in a Dakar suburb, blocking traffic under the watchful eye of security forces, AFP journalists observed.
The rally was held at the request of the Islamic NGO Jamra, the “Noo Lank” collective, which presents itself as a “citizen initiative working to preserve societal values,” and a Senegalese rapper who participated in the march.
Tensions and discrimination against the LGBT+ community are common in Senegal, and the subject remains largely taboo.
In this 95% Muslim and highly observant country, homosexuality is widely considered a deviance. The law punishes so-called “unnatural acts with a member of the same sex” with imprisonment of one to five years.
The issue is also being used politically. In 2022, former opposition leader Ousmane Sonko—who became Prime Minister in the spring of 2024—made the fight against homosexuality a campaign argument for the legislative elections.
On Monday, leaders of the “And sàmm jikko yi” (“Together for the Safeguarding of Values”) collective, composed of numerous associations, met with the parliamentary group of the ruling Pastef party to present an initiative to table a bill to strengthen the crackdown on homosexuality.
The initiative is in the hands of Pastef deputies who will decide its fate.
In May 2021 and February 2022, thousands of people demonstrated in Dakar for tougher repression of homosexuality.
In December 2021, at the initiative of the “And sàmm jikko yi” collective, members of parliament introduced a bill that would have punished homosexuality with a prison sentence of five to 10 years. The bill was rejected by the Assembly’s bureau, which deemed the existing legislation too harsh.
The text proposes to punish anyone who commits an “unnatural act” with up to fifteen years in prison, whereas the Penal Code already provides for a sentence of one to five years.
The issue of criminalizing homosexuality is once again being debated within the walls of the Senegalese National Assembly. On Monday, June 24, a member of parliament tabled a bill aimed at tightening existing legislation. In theory, the initiative enjoys broad support from the public, the House of Representatives, and the executive, since Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, while still in opposition, promised in 2022 that this would be one of the first laws he would pass if he came to power. However, in practice, the adoption of this proposal by Parliament is proving delicate, as it could destabilize some of Senegal’s diplomatic relations.
Until now, Article 319.3 of the Penal Code provides for imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 100,000 to 1,500,000 CFA francs (€150 to €2,200) for anyone committing an “unnatural act with a member of the same sex.” But MP Cheikh Abdou Bara Dolly Mbacké, from the Liberté démocratie et changement parliamentary group, which is sponsoring the bill, wants to go further. “We must fight against the perversion of morals in our society, against these immoral cultural values imported from the West,” says the elected official, who joined the Diomaye Président coalition before Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s presidential victory in March. The text therefore provides for a sentence of ten to fifteen years in prison and a fine of 1 to 5 million CFA francs and would establish “offenses of bisexuality, transsexuality, necrophilia and bestiality.” In one month, this is the second proposal submitted to the National Assembly aimed at toughening legislation on homosexuality.
“External injunctions”
Furthermore, the text by MP Cheikh Abdou Bara Dolly Mbacké almost entirely reproduces the provisions of a previous proposal, which dates from 2022. Submitted to the vote of the deputies, it was rejected by the presidential majority at the time, which considered that the legislation was already “clear and precise” on the subject, and that there was no need “to add or remove a comma”.
In an unchanged National Assembly, Cheikh Abdou Bara Dolly Mbacké nevertheless believes that his bill can now pass. “In 2022, this law was not passed because President Macky Sall’s regime blocked it in the face of Western pressure,” he asserts. “Today, it’s different; we have a prime minister who, I believe, will not give in to external pressure.”
In mid-May, during a conference in Dakar with Jean-Luc Mélenchon on relations between Africa and Europe, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko warned Westerners that their activism on behalf of homosexuals and sexual minorities could provoke a “new casus belli” with his country. It was also an opportunity for him to denounce the fact that “the issue of gender regularly comes up in the programs of most international institutions and in bilateral relations, often even as a conditionality for various financial partnerships.” Nevertheless, this proposed law embarrasses the new government. “Sooner or later, we will move towards this type of legislation,” said an advisor to the Prime Minister. “Today may not be the right time.” The same sentiment was echoed by members of parliament from the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics, and Fraternity (Pastef), the presidential party, and the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition.
“Determined”
The new proposal, while capable of satisfying a conservative electorate, could nevertheless have international consequences and disrupt Dakar’s diplomatic relations with Western foreign ministries, or even deprive it of certain institutional funding. For example, the World Bank has twice suspended its payments to Uganda after it adopted laws criminalizing homosexuality. The same threat now hangs over Ghana, which toughened its laws in February.
“The executive is caught between its promises and the reality of exercising power,” comments Xalima, an LGBT rights activist living in exile in France. While the adoption of this law seems uncertain, the concerns of the LGBT community in Senegal are very real. “The country has become unlivable, to the point that every day we see people from the community leaving for neighboring states,” says Xalima.
With the annual parliamentary session scheduled to end on Sunday, it seems “unlikely” that the vote will take place by then, according to the chairman of the Law Commission, Moussa Diakhaté. “We will resume parliamentary work in the first half of October,” he announced. Unless an extraordinary session is convened during the summer.
The Free Senegal Collective has just been created in France!
The association helps LGBTQI+ people in Senegal, notably by offering them shelter and social support, and by providing them with all the legal assistance they need.
As you might expect, the association is in dire need of raising funds to finance all its initiatives—and they are necessary and numerous.
👉https://www.collectif-free-senegal.org/
Emergency shelter, legal support, social assistance… We are proud to announce the official creation of the Free Collective of #Senegal, which also has a free national helpline dedicated to vulnerable people and victims of LGBT+phobia. #afriquedelouest🌈
We remind you that the criminalization of homosexuality, as provided for in Article 319 of the Senegalese Penal Code (dating from 1966), is contrary to the country’s constitution and international treaties to which Senegal is a party. We demand respect for human rights and the primacy of the rule of law. Senegalese courts must no longer apply this article.
A new #homophobic rally will be held this February 20th in #Senegal, called by the “And Samm Jikko” collective (Together for the Safeguarding of Values, in Wolof), composed of religious associations. The protesters are calling for a new review by MPs of a bill toughening the laws on the subject, recently rejected by Parliament. This is a new march of shame, calling for a strengthening of the repression of homosexuality, which is already punishable by one to five years in prison. This proposal also includes “lesbianism, bisexuality, transsexuality, intersexuality, bestiality, necrophilia, and other similar practices.”
It should be noted that even in death, the graves of LGBTQI+ people are desecrated, if not outright refused, in most cemeteries.
The Free Collective of Senegal is sending a new warning to the entire international community.
Djamil Bangoura, the head of the Senegalese LGBTI NGO Prudence +, founded in 2003, was beaten on February 10th in Pikine. This latest attack required emergency surgery. Gradually recovering from his injuries, he told 76crimes about his attack, still in shock.
“On February 10th, I was riding a bus in the late afternoon, between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM, in the area between Keur Massar and Malika Village, on the outskirts of Dakar, to get home. While the bus was stopping, a group of three people boarded, intending to have a serious fight with me. Very quickly, homophobic insults were hurled at me and I was called all sorts of names, and then it was just a frenzy of blows, even though I tried to defend myself. I was beaten with a stick after one of my attackers shouted, “he’s the biggest of the goordjiguen (a term used to refer to gays in Senegal and which can have a very pejorative connotation – literally it means man-woman). During this fight, the women nearby were screaming, while a fairly old man tried to intervene without success. I tried to resist and return blows, but three against one, they were far more numerous than me. Finally, it was a violent kick to the stomach, at the level of the sternum, which almost made me lose consciousness. However, even on the ground, I remember the blows continued to rain down, but I couldn’t do anything.”
“They were mainly medical, because now I’m reluctant to go to the police station when I’m attacked. A paramedic ambulance arrived on the scene once the attackers had left. I received some treatment for superficial skin lesions and abrasions. However, the next day, my abdominal pain was intense and required observation at the Ouakam military hospital. It was after an X-ray that it was decided to have emergency surgery. Following the surgery, it was decided to keep me under medical supervision for a total of two days.”
“The incident occurred barely 500 meters from an understaffed police station in the late afternoon, and although I recognize one of my attackers, I don’t want to. He often hangs around the neighborhood where I live and insults me almost daily when he sees me. In fact, he was probably behind the surveillance that led to the ambush I was subjected to. He may know my habits. In any case, it is certain that I was not targeted by chance, and this is not the first time that I have been physically attacked. Since 2006/2007, I have been attacked no less than seven times, and to date, none of my complaints have been successful. I still remember the trauma of my first attack, when some youths from my neighborhood came and poured cans of gasoline to set fire to my old home. At the time, the neighborhood leader and the imam who had ordered this assassination attempt weren’t even bothered by the authorities.
“For now, I need rest to complete my recovery. And for that, I’ll have to get away from my usual haunts a bit, so that I don’t run into the same gang that got me hospitalized.”
Accusing UNESCO of organizing a seminar to introduce issues related to homosexuality in schools, teachers’ unions are organizing to respond.
This reform was supposed to be carried out with the utmost discretion. But the teachers’ unions spilled the beans as soon as the work was completed. Last week, from December 21st to 23rd, UNESCO brought together education stakeholders in Saly to validate a module on sex education and reproductive health in Senegalese schools.
According to Inspector Sylla, who represented SELS/Authentique, led by Abdou Faty, the meeting included natural science and French teachers, inspectors, and those in charge of the Curriculum Reform Support Program (Parc) at the Ministry of National Education. And it was precisely this park that was supposed to serve as a Trojan horse for introducing lessons related to homosexuality through sex education. This is how, according to union representatives, we find expressions like “hot social issues,” “a catch-all” supposedly a module.
According to Inspector Sylla, who spoke via audio recordings shared on WhatsApp, items drawn from international principles were presented to school staff. And the teachers and inspectors of each subject were asked to state whether the landlords’ concerns had been taken into account in the curricula. If not, they should explain how it is possible to introduce them into core skills. “Some French teachers even said that this subject could be a welcome discipline, since, they say, Mariama Ba addressed these issues in her writings,” reports Sylla.
But that was without taking into account the determination of the union representatives, members of the G7, who simply sent UNESCO back to its desks. “All the union organizations have vigorously rejected these proposals, which do not align with our values and beliefs,” declared Abdou Faty, Secretary General of Sels/Authentique, contacted by Seneweb.
The same position was taken by CUSEMS. Deputy Secretary General Ndongo Sarr specified that the union’s Secretary General, Abdoulaye Ndoye, who took part in this meeting, categorically rejected this initiative. “We consider it a continuing farce. Two years ago (in a hotel on the Vdn), a workshop was organized during which the same issue was raised. We rejected it because if it passed, it would destroy our values,” Sarr recalled.
Faced with the unions’ stance, they were offered a conditional signature. They refused. Today, in addition to the rejection, the teachers are announcing a series of measures to address it. A press conference is planned in a few days. Faty and Sarr are announcing visits to religious authorities to encourage their support. They are also calling on the people to stand up to such an agenda.
According to our sources, this new attempt is proof that Westerners will never back down in their desire to impose their worldview on other peoples, particularly homosexuality. It remains to be seen whether the current Minister of National Education, Mamadou Tall, will follow in his predecessor’s footsteps. Indeed, two years ago, Serigne Mbaye Thiam, then the minister responsible, openly opposed this issue.
To force him to take a stand, Abdou Faty reveals that the unions will call on the minister to speak out “unambiguously” on the subject. And such proposals should no longer be made to them “in a sugar-coated manner.”
For these two unionists, the root of the problem remains the same: education funding. “If they dare to make these proposals to us, it’s because we don’t have endogenous funding,” says Abdou Faty, who calls on the government and the Senegalese people to agree to provide the necessary resources to avoid resorting to these groups called technical and financial partners. “Every time you request funding, if the gender dimension isn’t taken into account, they are reluctant,” adds Ndongo Sarr.
Therefore, the best way to preserve your values is not to reach out to them, because even if the project is withdrawn in the face of an outcry, it will sooner or later come back to the table, in one form or another… perhaps even more subtle.
A suspected homosexual was arrested in Touba by the Ndamatou Police. According to information from “Source A,” B. Guèye was unmasked in broad daylight on the street. Youths attempted to lynch him before the police quickly intervened. Taken to the police, he let loose as much as possible about his alleged homosexual status.
An individual was intercepted by a crowd in Touba. Accused of being homosexual because of his effeminate behavior, B. Guèye had a rough time at the hands of the youths. He was pelted with stones before being rescued by some well-wishers. Alerted, the police officers from the Ndamatou Police Station went to his rescue. The 21-year-old fishmonger was removed from the scene and taken into police custody.
Faced with investigators, B. Guèye admitted his homosexual status. According to him, he has been practicing homosexuality for over a year. The fishmonger also revealed that a certain T. Bèye had introduced him to this dirty business, according to information from “Source A.” “I flirted with a man in Touba to sleep with him, but it didn’t work out. I’ve been practicing homosexuality for over a year. A certain T. Beye introduced me to this dirty work.”
The alleged homosexual snitched on his partners, who are based in Thiès and Dakar. According to him, they gave him money after their sexual relations. The single man with no children specified that he was flirting with a man in Touba to sleep with him, but it didn’t work out, according to information from Source A.
Investigators discovered devastating audio clips on his WhatsApp application. Through the audio clips, the alleged man was haggling and chatting with his “gay clients.” Prosecuted for unnatural acts, the fishmonger residing in Touba will be brought before the Diourbel High Court today, Monday, unless there is a last-minute change of circumstances.
The arrest of 24 men in Keur Gorgui, near Dakar, on October 16th, highlighted the shortcomings that had been exposed.
With introspection, Souleymane Diouf (pseudonym), who coordinates the FREE collective, shares with us the underlying causes of the lack of an early community response to these waves of homophobic arrests that have occurred in Senegal since September.
Free, determined, and resolved to put an end to certain corrupt practices in Senegal, he denounces the errors and prevaricating abuses for which, according to him, human rights are the alibi.
In a new interview, 76crimes opens its columns to him so that silence is no longer complicit in certain evils that are killing LGBT+ people in Senegal today.
What are the anomalies or dysfunctions you say you have witnessed?
Already, on September 20th, during the arrest of 10 suspected homosexuals in Touba, not a single LGBT+ community organization in Senegal, nor a single Senegalese civil society organization, lifted a finger.
This is a painful truth to state, but it deserves to be heard, as it raises many questions as well as essential introspection.
At the time, this situation left me in such disarray that I immediately decided to contact you, a person from outside Senegal who lives in French Guiana, in South America.
Indeed, I quickly realized that with a foreigner, I would paradoxically be listened to and heard more than within my own country.
Bis repetita, during the arrest of 24 young suspected homosexuals in Keur Gorgui, Dakar, on October 16th, community organizations and civil society organizations did not immediately step up to the plate. At least at first, in my opinion.
Have you noticed anything else?
It was only because international institutions began to address the Senegalese situation, in terms of human rights violations, that local organizations began to react.
Some often talk about interference or neocolonialism here and there, but the truth is that without our international friends, there would have been a great deal of inertia, with the LGBT+ community under the strict control of Islamists. We must be clear-headed. We, LGBT+ activists in Senegal, have left the public debate on issues related to sexual minorities to the Islamists.
We saw the situation deteriorate over the years, but instead of anticipating the current situation, we deserted the discussion, due to our lack of political formulation of an inclusive social project, in the face of JAMRA’s deadly Islamist agenda.
Yet, some see this as a culture of confrontation, when it’s simply a matter of offering new horizons to see, by broadening the range of possibilities. We are democrats, and we recognize that through our past silence, we have unwittingly made ourselves accomplices and objective allies of those who wish to suppress us.
Silence is a strategy that has never paid off in Senegal, while violence against LGBT+ people has steadily escalated in recent months. We then arrive at the only remaining conclusion: that silence condemns us to failure.
For the FREE Collective, the political response to Islamism is an intellectual space that has yet to be explored in Senegal. And we intend to become pioneers.
What other challenges remain?
Today, we have evidence of fraudulent grant applications and funding in the name of victims of homophobia, without their consent, but in their name.
This is a windfall, collateral, and undesirable result of the international focus on the situation in Senegal.
We denounce these practices and this lack of integrity, which, while committed by certain human rights defenders, are now harmful to everyone by casting a veil of suspicion over our ethics.
Building a reputation, credibility, and a relationship of trust takes too long for us to allow unscrupulous individuals to take advantage of Senegalese LGBT+ people in distress, because embezzlement kills.
Embezzling funds is taking away resources from the most vulnerable. To put an end to the many recurring situations of breach of trust, the FREE Collective is considering filing a complaint in the coming days.
Individuals and organizations wishing to provide financial support to the FREE Collective can write to collectiffree@gmail.com.
Planète Queer 