Foreign Policy: Senegal Represses Homosexuality: Bettel’s Heartfelt Plea
The Luxembourgish Foreign Minister expressed his “deep concern” following Senegal’s intention to crack down more harshly on homosexuality.
Xavier Bettel’s heartfelt plea. The Luxembourgish Minister of Foreign Affairs tweeted personally, expressing his strong disapproval of Senegal’s plan to intensify the crackdown on homosexuality, Sunday. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko recently proposed a law to double the penalties for same-sex relationships, making them punishable by ten years in prison.
“The embrace” of homosexuality would also be punishable by three to seven years in prison, with Senegalese authorities considering homosexual relationships as “against nature.” Unacceptable to Xavier Bettel, the first sitting European head of government to marry a person of the same sex, when he was Prime Minister in 2015.
“Learning that next week, Senegal wants to punish homosexuality or bisexuality as criminal acts as zoophilia or necrophilia is deeply concerning (…) It once again shows that many do not understand that attraction to a person of the same sex is not a choice but a reality of nature. However, not accepting it is a choice,” he wrote on the X social network.
Bettel and Senegal, not the first episode of tension
In a message to L’essentiel during one of his recent visits to Africa, the current Foreign Minister had already addressed these underlying tensions with Senegal, amidst human rights violations. “I also had a bad experience with Senegal, where the president and his minister expressed their joy in receiving money, while refusing to discuss other issues with us. In this context, establishing trust is quite difficult.”
It is hard to imagine a thaw in relations with this Francophone African country of 19 million people, mostly Muslim. Several years ago, an intervention by the Luxembourgish Minister at the UN had already sparked outrage in Senegalese social media on the same issue.
Very sensitive to the rights of minorities, especially those of LGBTQ+, Xavier Bettel has, on the other hand, appreciated some efforts made on the subject by other partner countries in Africa, such as Togo, in recent years.
