Senegal Tries to Compete with Uganda for Homophobia Title

by Michael Jones · 2009-12-28 11:25:00 UTC
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Senegal FlagIt's pretty hard to top Uganda in terms of homophobic actions by a government. But darn it if Senegal isn't giving it a good run for the money. The West African country has a rich history of not tolerating anything closely related to LGBT rights, whether it was the decision last year to sentence nine gay men to eight years in prison for being gay, or the decision of pro-government newspapers to publish pictures of people they think are openly gay.

And now, Senegal has added another shrimp to the homophobic barbie, arresting 24 men on Christmas Eve for the alleged crime of "homosexual activities." Twenty-four men. That's nearly five basketball squads, two football teams, or three baseball rosters. That's also not random policework -- that's a crackdown, and one that suggests that Senegal is ramping up efforts (or continuing them, depending on your perspective) to invade private bedrooms and arrest consenting adults.

The arrests come after a year where Senegal received a whole lot of bad press in the international arena over its treatment of LGBT citizens. The criticism hit fever pitch earlier this year when the nine men were sentenced. That verdict was eventually overturned by Senegal's highest court, and the men were set free. But the decision didn't spark a sea change in the way Senegal's LGBT population are treated.

Hence the 24 men being arrested this past week. According to AFP, the men were arrested in a seaside town of Saly, about 50 miles south of the capital city, Dakar. Though they've been released, they are all being investigated by government authorities, and can be called in to the police station at any point in time moving forward.

Senegal is clearly not learning the right lessons in all of this. It began 2009 under a shit storm because of unjust arrests of gay people. Now it's closing out 2009 facing the same story, although instead of nine men, it's 24. What's the definition of insanity that former President Bill Clinton used so popularly? Oh yeah, it's doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

It's pretty safe to say that Senegal fits that definition, at least when it comes to looking at its policy on criminalizing homosexuality.

(Photo courtesy of http://blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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