Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has accused Western countries of trying to force homosexuality on the rest of the world, as he defended a new law that toughens penalties for same-sex relations.
Speaking to lawmakers on Friday, Sonko condemned what he called Western tyranny in wanting to impose homosexuality on other nations.
“There are eight billion human beings in the world, but there is a small nucleus called the West which, because it has resources and controls the media, wants to impose it on the rest of the world,” Sonko said.
The issue of LGBTQ rights has stirred controversy in Muslim-majority Senegal in recent years. Gay rights advocacy is frequently denounced by officials as a tool used by Westerners to impose foreign values.
In late March, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed into law legislation doubling the maximum penalty for same-sex relations. The new law punishes “acts against nature” with five to ten years in prison, compared with one to five years previously.
The law also provides for three to seven years in prison for those found guilty of promoting or financing same-sex relationships.
Sonko, who became Senegal’s highly influential prime minister in 2024, had promised before taking office to make same-sex relations a crime, upgrading the offence from its previous classification as a misdemeanour.
