Dakar: Every time Abdu’s mother hears about a gay attack on the streets Senegalthe capital of DakaroHe locked her in his bedroom.
Abdu – who, like other LGBTQ people in an AFP interview, asked not to be identified by his real name – used to hide. He has been hiding his sexuality throughout his life.
But lately the 20-year-old has felt even more in danger.
“The situation is becoming more and more dire,” said the soft-spoken unemployed tailor.
“Before they said you were GayBut they didn’t kill you. You were beaten up today and posted on social media.”
Homosexuality has never been widely accepted in Senegal, a deeply conservative nation. But tensions have reached new heights in recent months.
in May, Senegalese football star indrisa gana guye France was criticized for missing a Paris Saint-Germain match for “personal reasons” in which players wore rainbow jerseys to support LGBTQ rights.
The reports prompted a shower of support on social media with homophobic memes for Gwey back home.
A few days later, an American artist who was in Dakar for an international festival was thrashed by a mob of homophobic abusers.
Abdu’s nightmare begins when a cousin discovers her sexuality and ousts her, forcing her to flee Senegal for months after being evicted from her home, fired from her job and bombarded with threats. .
Now he’s back and he says he’s trying to convince his family that he’s “straightened.”
“I tried to say several times, ‘Tomorrow, I’m not going to be gay anymore, tomorrow I’m going to try to find a girlfriend,'” [but] I can’t.”
Abu cut off contact with his gay friends to protect them and spent much of his time in isolation on social media for information about Senegal’s growing anti-gay movement.
“I can’t find words to describe how much it hurts to be hated,” he said.
Once he even tried to kill himself by drinking poison for cockroaches.
Gay ‘lobbies’ – activists say anti-gay rhetoric has intensified since a May 2021 demonstration in the capital for gay sex – currently punishable by up to five years in prison – a serious crime.
France, a former colonial power, has removed Senegal from its list of safe countries of origin because of the face of homosexuality there.
The majority of Senegal’s 1,300 asylum applications in France last year cited harassment over sexual orientation, according to official figures.
But many in Muslim-majority Senegal believe that homosexuality is a Western lifestyle being imposed on their society.
“I don’t see how Senegal should change its position to give more space to these homosexuals,” said 28-year-old student Abdoulaye Guise. LGBTQ people should remain “judicious”.
“Socially it is not allowed – religion is so strong in Senegal that it adapts to our social practices.”
Powerful Sufi fraternities exercise considerable social and political clout in Senegal.
Anti-French sentiment is also on the rise.
Ababakar Mboup, who runs it, and Sam Jiko Yee, a group that helped organize last year’s march, accused France of forcing its customs on Senegal when it introduced polygamy like polygamy within its borders. does not accept practices.
He said he wanted to stop the gay “lobby” from dominating mainstream Senegalese culture.
“If two homosexuals, hiding in their homes, engage in their activities, it doesn’t concern us – but we really want to preserve Senegal’s public space,” he said, adding that his organization is peaceful and crowded. does not condone violence.
“Having Gay Pride… That We Won’t Accept.”
Senegal isn’t the only sub-Saharan state with laws against gay sex – some two dozen others have as well.
While some still have small but visible LGBTQ communities, in Senegal – a country known for its hospitality, with a reputation for stability and the rule of law – this is not the case.
– ‘You just want to leave’ – Khalifa, a bisexual, claims groups are tracking LGBTQ people and rights groups who help them and publicly denounce them.
The 34-year-old, who was recently driven out to his family and forced to hide outside Dakar, said some homosexuals have his personal information and he worries they will publish it.
“In Senegal, there is no place for homosexuals,” he said. “When you hear imams preaching you just want to get on a plane and leave immediately.”
Even though he is proud to be Senegalese and a practicing Muslim, he hopes to find asylum abroad.
“For me there is only one nationality on earth and that is Senegalese,” he said.
Married with one child, Caliph was able to hide his bisexuality for most of his life, until ousted after a fall by a friend.
“When I walk out, you can’t tell I’m bisexual — on the contrary, you think it’s a homosexual walk,” he said. “It’s part of the strategy.”
Abdu, on the other hand, was pious from an early age and his mother forced him to see a religious leader, known for his “healings”, which included midnight “spiritual” baths and conversion therapy.
As he grew older, gay men would stop him on the streets asking for his phone number.
This could be dangerous. LGBTQ people can be lured into meetings where they are attacked.
Members of the LGBTQ community say that there were never gay bars in Dakar, but there were previously places where they would meet and mingle with straight people without others knowing.
All this has come to a halt since the anti-gay march.
“It’s riskier to publicly display your LGBTQI identity than it was a few years ago in Senegal,” said researcher Osman Diallo from Amnesty International.
Gay activists claim politicians are jumping on the anti-gay bandwagon to rally support for Sunday’s parliamentary elections and presidential election in 2024.
– Father swore he would shoot son – Mam Mactor Gué, leader of the Jamra NGO who insisted on harsher punishments for gay sex, argued that stricter laws would actually “barrier” and limit mob violence to LGBTQ people Will save from
After he was rejected by parliament in January, Jamra held a second march in February, and in May Guye met with President Mackie Saal.
Guay said that historically Senegalese society had a place for men or transvestites to be known as “gore-jigens” – meaning “male-woman” in Wolof – but LGBTQ people professed this. Have gone too far with “provocation”. last decade.
“They started becoming a problem when they organized themselves into unions and started invading public space,” he said.
“Many countries have given up,” Guay claimed, adding that Gabon had “fell in the hands of”. LGBT lobby” by easing laws on gay sex.
“You Westerners are used to teaching us in your university lecture halls that democracy is the law of the majority, but please, the overwhelming majority of Senegalese don’t want it,” he said.
For Senegalese gays, leaving may seem like the best option, but it comes with its own challenges.
Dauda, 32, fled to a neighboring country in 2016 and sometimes struggles to make ends meet.
“To live with homosexuality in Senegal means to be in danger from morning till night,” he said.
He misses his family and wants to go home but believes he cannot do so as long as his father is alive.
“He took out a gun and wanted to shoot me – I would have died if there were no people in the house,” he said. “He swore that he would kill me if he did the last thing.”
Abdu – who, like other LGBTQ people in an AFP interview, asked not to be identified by his real name – used to hide. He has been hiding his sexuality throughout his life.
But lately the 20-year-old has felt even more in danger.
“The situation is becoming more and more dire,” said the soft-spoken unemployed tailor.
“Before they said you were GayBut they didn’t kill you. You were beaten up today and posted on social media.”
Homosexuality has never been widely accepted in Senegal, a deeply conservative nation. But tensions have reached new heights in recent months.
in May, Senegalese football star indrisa gana guye France was criticized for missing a Paris Saint-Germain match for “personal reasons” in which players wore rainbow jerseys to support LGBTQ rights.
The reports prompted a shower of support on social media with homophobic memes for Gwey back home.
A few days later, an American artist who was in Dakar for an international festival was thrashed by a mob of homophobic abusers.
Abdu’s nightmare begins when a cousin discovers her sexuality and ousts her, forcing her to flee Senegal for months after being evicted from her home, fired from her job and bombarded with threats. .
Now he’s back and he says he’s trying to convince his family that he’s “straightened.”
“I tried to say several times, ‘Tomorrow, I’m not going to be gay anymore, tomorrow I’m going to try to find a girlfriend,'” [but] I can’t.”
Abu cut off contact with his gay friends to protect them and spent much of his time in isolation on social media for information about Senegal’s growing anti-gay movement.
“I can’t find words to describe how much it hurts to be hated,” he said.
Once he even tried to kill himself by drinking poison for cockroaches.
Gay ‘lobbies’ – activists say anti-gay rhetoric has intensified since a May 2021 demonstration in the capital for gay sex – currently punishable by up to five years in prison – a serious crime.
France, a former colonial power, has removed Senegal from its list of safe countries of origin because of the face of homosexuality there.
The majority of Senegal’s 1,300 asylum applications in France last year cited harassment over sexual orientation, according to official figures.
But many in Muslim-majority Senegal believe that homosexuality is a Western lifestyle being imposed on their society.
“I don’t see how Senegal should change its position to give more space to these homosexuals,” said 28-year-old student Abdoulaye Guise. LGBTQ people should remain “judicious”.
“Socially it is not allowed – religion is so strong in Senegal that it adapts to our social practices.”
Powerful Sufi fraternities exercise considerable social and political clout in Senegal.
Anti-French sentiment is also on the rise.
Ababakar Mboup, who runs it, and Sam Jiko Yee, a group that helped organize last year’s march, accused France of forcing its customs on Senegal when it introduced polygamy like polygamy within its borders. does not accept practices.
He said he wanted to stop the gay “lobby” from dominating mainstream Senegalese culture.
“If two homosexuals, hiding in their homes, engage in their activities, it doesn’t concern us – but we really want to preserve Senegal’s public space,” he said, adding that his organization is peaceful and crowded. does not condone violence.
“Having Gay Pride… That We Won’t Accept.”
Senegal isn’t the only sub-Saharan state with laws against gay sex – some two dozen others have as well.
While some still have small but visible LGBTQ communities, in Senegal – a country known for its hospitality, with a reputation for stability and the rule of law – this is not the case.
– ‘You just want to leave’ – Khalifa, a bisexual, claims groups are tracking LGBTQ people and rights groups who help them and publicly denounce them.
The 34-year-old, who was recently driven out to his family and forced to hide outside Dakar, said some homosexuals have his personal information and he worries they will publish it.
“In Senegal, there is no place for homosexuals,” he said. “When you hear imams preaching you just want to get on a plane and leave immediately.”
Even though he is proud to be Senegalese and a practicing Muslim, he hopes to find asylum abroad.
“For me there is only one nationality on earth and that is Senegalese,” he said.
Married with one child, Caliph was able to hide his bisexuality for most of his life, until ousted after a fall by a friend.
“When I walk out, you can’t tell I’m bisexual — on the contrary, you think it’s a homosexual walk,” he said. “It’s part of the strategy.”
Abdu, on the other hand, was pious from an early age and his mother forced him to see a religious leader, known for his “healings”, which included midnight “spiritual” baths and conversion therapy.
As he grew older, gay men would stop him on the streets asking for his phone number.
This could be dangerous. LGBTQ people can be lured into meetings where they are attacked.
Members of the LGBTQ community say that there were never gay bars in Dakar, but there were previously places where they would meet and mingle with straight people without others knowing.
All this has come to a halt since the anti-gay march.
“It’s riskier to publicly display your LGBTQI identity than it was a few years ago in Senegal,” said researcher Osman Diallo from Amnesty International.
Gay activists claim politicians are jumping on the anti-gay bandwagon to rally support for Sunday’s parliamentary elections and presidential election in 2024.
– Father swore he would shoot son – Mam Mactor Gué, leader of the Jamra NGO who insisted on harsher punishments for gay sex, argued that stricter laws would actually “barrier” and limit mob violence to LGBTQ people Will save from
After he was rejected by parliament in January, Jamra held a second march in February, and in May Guye met with President Mackie Saal.
Guay said that historically Senegalese society had a place for men or transvestites to be known as “gore-jigens” – meaning “male-woman” in Wolof – but LGBTQ people professed this. Have gone too far with “provocation”. last decade.
“They started becoming a problem when they organized themselves into unions and started invading public space,” he said.
“Many countries have given up,” Guay claimed, adding that Gabon had “fell in the hands of”. LGBT lobby” by easing laws on gay sex.
“You Westerners are used to teaching us in your university lecture halls that democracy is the law of the majority, but please, the overwhelming majority of Senegalese don’t want it,” he said.
For Senegalese gays, leaving may seem like the best option, but it comes with its own challenges.
Dauda, 32, fled to a neighboring country in 2016 and sometimes struggles to make ends meet.
“To live with homosexuality in Senegal means to be in danger from morning till night,” he said.
He misses his family and wants to go home but believes he cannot do so as long as his father is alive.
“He took out a gun and wanted to shoot me – I would have died if there were no people in the house,” he said. “He swore that he would kill me if he did the last thing.”