Burkina Faso Outlaws Homosexuality

Burkina Faso Outlaws Homosexuality Burkina Faso Burkina Faso’s transitional junta parliament passed a law criminalizing homosexuality and instituting prison sentences of up to five years as punishment this week, the latest African country to impose anti-gay legislation, France 24 reported. The law was unanimously adopted Monday by 71 unelected members of the transitional parliament, in power following two coups in 2022. Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala told national broadcaster RTB that homosexual acts are “bizarre behavior” and added that foreign nationals would be deported under the law, Africanews wrote. Officials presented the law, which is part of a broader family and citizenship legislation reform, as a recognition of “marriage and family values,” adding that it will be “popularized through an awareness campaign.” Homosexuality is banned in around 30 African countries, but it was not deemed a criminal act in Burkina Faso before the military seized power through coups they said were meant to stabilize the West African country amid a worsening security crisis. Rights groups, however, have criticized the junta for undermining human rights with widespread arrests and military conscription of critics. Mali, an ally of Burkina Faso and also led by a military government, passed a law banning homosexuality in November 2024. Ghana and Uganda have also recently imposed stricter anti-homosexuality laws. In Uganda, “aggravated homosexuality” is a capital offence, while consensual same-sex relations can be punished with a life sentence. Analysts say that while these laws are widely criticized abroad, they are often popular in African countries where the public is often critical of homosexuality, framing it as a behavior imported from abroad.