{"id":190874,"date":"2026-04-17T03:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/190874\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T03:30:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:30:31","slug":"senegalese-court-issues-first-conviction-under-new-anti-lgbtq-law-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/190874\/","title":{"rendered":"Senegalese court issues first conviction under new anti-LGBTQ law"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Bigstock photo)<\/p>\n

A Senegalese court has issued the first conviction under a new law that further criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u00a0notes<\/a>\u00a0the court in Pikine-Gu\u00e9diawaye, a suburb of Dakar, the Senegalese capital, on April 10 convicted a 24-year-old man of committing \u201cacts against nature and public indecency\u201d and sentenced him to six years in prison.<\/p>\n

Authorities arrested the man, who Senegalese media reports\u00a0identified<\/a>\u00a0as Mbaye Diouf, earlier this month. The court also fined him 2 million CFA ($3,591.04).<\/p>\n

Lawmakers in the African country on March 11 nearly unanimously\u00a0passed<\/a>\u00a0the measure that increases 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 bill that Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko introduced also prohibits the \u201cpromotion\u201d or \u201cfinancing\u201d of homosexuality in Senegal.<\/p>\n

MassResistance, an anti-LGBTQ group based in the U.S., reportedly worked with Senegalese groups to advance the bill that President Bassirou Diomaye Faye\u00a0signed<\/a>\u00a0on March 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis prison sentence is unlawful under international law,\u201d said\u00a0Human Rights Watch on April 15.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cSenegal is bound by treaty obligations that protect every person\u2019s right to dignity, privacy, and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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:\u00a0NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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