On Friday, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko condemned Western efforts to impose LGBTQ+ values on Africa, rejecting any interference in the enforcement of a recently enacted law that tightens penalties for same-sex relationships.

LGBTQ+ rights have sparked intense debate in Senegal, a predominantly Muslim nation where promoting homosexuality is widely viewed as an attempt by foreign powers to impose alien cultural norms.

In late March, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed legislation doubling the maximum sentence for same-sex relations, a move that has already led to multiple arrests.

Sonko argued that a small group of Western nations, wielding economic influence and media control, are attempting to dictate global moral standards.

« There is a form of tyranny at play. With eight billion people in the world, a handful of Western nations—driven by their resources and media dominance—seek to impose their agenda on the rest of humanity, » Sonko told lawmakers during a parliamentary address.

The Prime Minister dismissed international criticism, particularly from France, asserting that Senegal has no lessons to learn from Western nations on morality.

He urged Senegal’s judiciary to apply the new law rigorously, without any moratorium or concessions.

Under the revised legislation, « acts against nature »—a legal term used to describe same-sex relations—now carry sentences ranging from five to ten years, up from the previous one-to-five-year range. The law also penalizes individuals involved in financing or promoting such acts with three-to-seven-year prison terms.

Sonko firmly rejected calls for a temporary halt to enforcement, following a recent op-ed in a French newspaper where over thirty African intellectuals appealed for a moratorium. Prior to his 2024 appointment as Prime Minister, Sonko had publicly vowed to criminalize homosexuality, reclassifying it from a minor offense to a serious crime.