Junta-run Burkina Faso has passed a law banning homosexuality and instituting punishments of up to five years in jail, the latest in a clutch of African nations to pass anti-gay legislation.
“The law provides for a prison sentence of between two and five years as well as fines,” Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said on national broadcaster RTB.
“If a person is a perpetrator of homosexual or similar practices, all the bizarre behaviour, they will go before the judge,” he said, adding that foreign nationals would be deported under the law.
Indeed, this is an unfortunate decision that’s not unsurprising, and a common theme within the broader history of decolonial national liberation movements. In particular, the move could stem from conflation of homosexuality with Western influence, which they are trying to wholly eradicate. Interestingly, some of the articles note that enforcement of this is intended to lead to deportation of foreigners, so there’s likely a political pretext behind the decision as well.