The Burkina Faso has adopted a law that makes homosexual relationships illegal, providing for prison penis from two to five years and fines for those who are found to violate the legislation. The law also establishes that foreign people involved in homosexual relationships will be expelled from the country, marking a clear tightening compared to the previous situation.
The provision was unanimously approved by the 71 non -elected members of the legislative transitional assembly (alt), the parliamentary body that exerts the legislative functions after the coup d’état of 2022. This passage strengthens the authoritarian socket of the military junta led by the president Ibrahim Traoré, to power since he overturned the government in 2022.
The new law is part of a context already marked by media restrictions: in 2023, the Superior Council of Communication, an organism that regulated the media, had prohibited the transmission of television channels deemed promoters of homosexuality, limiting the spread of content considered contrary to the guidelines of the junta.
A regression of rights in Africa
Despite the global tendency to the decriminalization of homosexuality, much of Africa continues to live a worrying regression. Organizations such as the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Association have repeatedly highlighted how some countries of the continent are introducing restrictive and punitive laws, often ignoring international standards on human rights.
In this scenario, Burkina Faso’s measure represents a further step back compared to global progress. The prison penalties, fines and expulsions for foreigners create a climate of legal and social persecution for LGBTI+people, consolidating a severe legislation that limits individual freedom and the possibility of openly living their identity.
The approval of this law has aroused criticism both locally and internationally. Human rights organizations emphasize that similar measures can increase discrimination, marginalization and fear between LGBTI+people. Each person should have the right to love those who want without fear of legal or social persecutions. The repression of homosexuality not only discriminates, but feeds an atmosphere of stigma and violence unacceptable to the present day.
In Devastating News for Our Community, Burkina Faso Adopted a Law That Criminalises People Who Engage in Consensual …
Posted by Ilga World on Tuesday, September 2, 2025
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