The Alarming Rise of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Across Africa
A concerning surge in anti-LGBTQ+ laws is spreading across numerous African nations, many of which already enforce stringent regulations concerning sexuality. This legal onslaught is having a profound and disproportionate impact not only on queer minorities within these communities but also on their allies and supporters. The roots of this troubling trend can be traced back to colonial-era legislation, which is now being revived and strengthened by governments seeking to bolster their popularity among electorates.
Recent Legislative Actions and Their Severe Consequences
In Senegal, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye recently signed a new law that doubles the maximum prison sentence for same-sex sexual acts to ten years. This legislation also prohibits any financial support or promotion of homosexuality. This move followed the arrest and charging of over a dozen men, including a well-known musician and a journalist, in February for alleged acts against nature.
Burkina Faso's interim president, Ibrahim Traoré, enacted a provision last September that criminalises homosexual acts, punishable by prison sentences ranging from two to five years and fines up to 10 million CFA francs, approximately £13,300. The Human Dignity Trust has condemned this as a deplorable development.
Perhaps the most infamous example is Uganda, where President Yoweri Museveni ratified a severe anti-LGBT law in 2023. This legislation includes the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, building upon the 2014 Kill the Gays bill, which previously carried no risk of execution.
Ghana's Controversial Bill and Its Broader Implications
Ghana is poised to resume legislative proceedings on its controversial Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, originally introduced in 2021. Rooted in colonial-era criminalisation of sexuality, the bill initially passed parliament in 2024 but lapsed without former President Nana Akufo-Addo's assent. A new version, submitted in February, imposes a legal duty on professionals such as teachers, journalists, parents, and religious leaders to protect family values, creating a mandatory obligation for citizens to enforce it.
Current President John Mahama has acknowledged that the bill's reintroduction has sparked a complex and sensitive national conversation. He stated that his government would be guided by Ghana's 1992 constitution, human rights, dignity, and the need to preserve social cohesion. Mahama emphasised that while important, this issue is not the nation's top priority, as Ghana continues to grapple with fundamental needs like education, healthcare, employment, food, clothing, and shelter.
Personal Stories of Repression and Survival
For many queer Ghanaians, these basic needs remain elusive, compounded by threats to their safety. Awo dufie fofie, an intersex trans woman and archivist documenting queerness in Ghana, faced doxing in 2023 and subsequent discrimination. She has been evicted from multiple apartments after landlords learned of her identity. A particularly low point was being attacked by a mob outside her Airbnb in Accra, resulting in psychological and financial consequences, including missing a PhD application interview.
Through her work with civil organisations like Rightify, which documents abuses and violence, awo has witnessed repression across the continent. She reports the existence of conversion therapy camps, threats from biological family members, and brutal beatings of gay men lured via social media apps.
Amanda Odoi, a researcher and activist who challenged the bill in court, criticises its outsized impact on allies and their networks. She highlights threats to life, careers, and security, noting that political rhetoric can lead to material attacks on both sexual and reproductive rights for non-conforming individuals.
Political Motivations and Foreign Influence
The issue has become a political football, with politicians leveraging it to gain electoral favour. Senegal's recent law fulfilled a campaign promise by President Faye, while Akufo-Addo frequently used the topic to maintain his popularity during his presidency.
Evidence suggests that right-wing groups outside Africa are actively influencing politics on the continent. The Institute for Journalism and Social Change found that 17 US-based Christian rights groups, known for anti-gender campaigning, spent $5.2 million in Africa in 2022, a 47% increase from 2019. This includes the Heritage Foundation, a prominent right-wing thinktank, which reported spending $8,000 in Africa over a four-year period without detailing allocations.
The analysis also examined groups like the Fellowship Foundation, which has funded events attended by Uganda's Museveni, such as a 2023 speech by US representative Tim Walberg urging Uganda to stand firm on anti-LGBTQ legislation.
Next month, Ghana will host the fourth African inter-parliamentary conference on family and sovereignty in Accra, a platform with documented links to US-based far-right advocacy groups. Previous editions have featured speakers promoting Uganda's anti-homosexuality act as a model for other African legislation.
Forging Alternative Futures and Decolonial Advocacy
Despite the repression, activists like awo are focused on creating alternative histories and futures. She recently documented older queer people in West Africa and attended the wedding of her friend's two gay children. Awo advocates for rethinking gender, using indigenous labels like Kojo Besia, an Akan phrase for an effeminate man, as a starting point for decolonial advocacy that centres on the rights of these identities.
She emphasises the opportunity for continuous engagement, highlighting queer history and experiences to change the narrative and foster progress for LGBTQ+ communities across Africa.
