Gay Guide Senegal

Senegal is one of the few francophone African countries that punishes homosexuality. Homosexual acts are, according to article 319, paragraph 3 of the Senegalese penal code, an "immoral, unnatural act", thus illegal and can be punished with imprisonment of up to five years and a fine. The law continues to be applied, although reports of arrests have become less frequent in recent years in view of international attention. The queer community has a very difficult position in the country. Discrimination is commonplace. Surveys from 2013 show: 97% of those questioned believe homosexuality should not be accepted by society - exactly the same result as in 2007. Homosexuals do not receive support from their families because they bring shame on them - and they are not allowed to be buried in the family grave. In 2013, the Human Rights Council called on the government to improve the situation of the queer community in the country - and above all to decriminalise it. All recommendations were rejected by the country's leaders - with the incomprehensible justification that homosexuality is not illegal, of course, but only sex between people of the same sex. In 2016, Senegal's President Macky Sall declared that under his leadership the country would never legalise homosexual sexual acts.