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Burkina Faso joins the list of more than half of Africa’s 54 countries that have laws banning homosexuality with the penalties ranging from several years in prison to the death penalty.
Burkina Faso’s parliament has passed a law banning homosexuality with offenders facing two to five years in prison, the state broadcaster reported late Monday. The amended family code was approved by the parliament on Monday in a unanimous vote that puts the code into effect more than a year after it was approved by the military government of Ibrahim Traore.
Burkina Faso joins the list of more than half of Africa’s 54 countries that have laws banning homosexuality with the penalties ranging from several years in prison to the death penalty. The laws, though criticised abroad, enjoy popularity in the countries where locals and officials have criticised homosexuality as behaviour imported from abroad and not a sexual orientation.
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Burkina Faso’s neighbour and close ally Mali – which is also ruled by a military junta – passed a similar law in November. There’s also been growing opposition to LGBTQ+ rights in Uganda and Ghana, both of which have tightened anti-gay legislation in recent years. In Uganda, so-called “aggravated homosexuality” can be punishable by death, while engaging in same-sex relations can carry a life sentence.