Burkina Faso’s interim legislative assembly has enacted a law prohibiting homosexuality, with violators facing imprisonment of up to five years.
The Persons and Family Code law, positioning Burkina Faso as the latest African nation to outlaw lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activities, also introduces stricter regulations on nationality and stateless individuals.
The military regime, which seized control of Burkina Faso in a 2022 coup, has become increasingly repressive of opposition as Islamist militant violence escalates in the West African nation.
The legislation was unanimously approved by the unelected, 71-member transitional parliament on Monday and awaits the approval of military junta leader Ibrahim Traore.
‘The law provides for a prison sentence ranging from two to five years and a fine,’ Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala announced on state television on Monday night.
‘A person who (engages in) homosexual practices … will appear before a judge and, in the event of a repeat offence, be deported if you are not a Burkinabe national,’ he stated.
He further noted that the law takes effect immediately and denounced homosexual acts as ‘bizarre behaviour.’
Anti-gay legislation exists in several conservative African nations, including Senegal, Uganda, and Malawi, while others, such as South Africa, Botswana, and Angola, have decriminalized LGBTQ practices or implemented protective measures.
These laws, though condemned by Western nations, are widely supported in the countries where they are enacted, with local populations and officials criticizing homosexuality as a foreign import rather than a sexual orientation.
Burkina Faso has been under military rule since the 2022 coup.
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