The ruling military junta in control of African nation Burkina Faso has implemented anti-gay laws for the first time in the nation’s history. While the country was never widely accepting of same-gender relationships, the new laws deem same-gender behavior as punishable offenses. Burkina Faso was founded as a French colony and did not adopt anti-LGBTQ+ laws that were common to British colonies in Africa. Junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré rose to power in 2022 and chose to break ties with France in favor of Russia, another nation that has enacted laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals. Burkina Faso’s new anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been approved by junta’s cabinet and will be passed after approval from the military-controlled parliament and Captain Traoré.
As of July 2024, 31 of the 54 African states have laws criminalizing same-gender behavior and marriage. Sentences for LGBTQ+ individuals can include imprisonment, corporal punishment, or even death.
Malawi law currently allows for a prison sentence of up to 14 years, with or without corporal punishment, for individuals found to engage in same-gender behavior. Mauritania’s laws allow for a punishment of death by public stoning for “any adult Muslim man who commits an indecent act or an act against nature with an individual of his sex.”
Burkina Faso is only one of several African states that have recently enacted anti-LGBTQ+ laws, joining Uganda with its 2023 “Kill the Gays” legislation outlawing same-gender acts and Ghana’s 2024 bill proposing a three-year prison term for anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+.
Burkina Faso’s National Consultive Commission on Human Rights spoke out about the country’s regressive new anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In a written statement, the group says, “We are all equal in dignity and rights.” The group continues, “In Burkina Faso, thousands of people suffer from prejudice and injustice every day. We must take action. Discrimination weakens our society and divides our communities. Every individual deserves to live without fear of being judged or excluded.”
