Burkina Faso Passes Law Banning Homosexuality, Offenders Face Prison 🇧🇫

Burkina Faso's transitional parliament has unanimously passed a new law that criminalizes homosexuality, with offenders facing prison sentences of up to five years. The legislation, which amends the Persons and Family Code law, also introduces new rules on nationality and statelessness. According to the country's Justice Minister, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, the law goes into effect immediately, and those found guilty will be subject to fines as well as a jail term. He also stated that non-citizens will be deported.

This move makes Burkina Faso the latest in a series of African nations to pass anti-LBGTQ+ legislation. The laws have been criticized by human rights organizations and Western countries, but they enjoy a lot of support in the countries where officials and locals often describe homosexuality as a foreign practice rather than a sexual orientation.

The legislation comes as the military junta, which seized power in a 2022 coup, has become more authoritarian amid a worsening security crisis from Islamist militant violence. The junta, led by Ibrahim Traoré, has increasingly used rhetoric of independence from the West, and this new law seems to align with that political stance. Rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced the legislation as an "alarming setback" that creates discrimination and violates the right to equality.