Since the beginning of 2026, a fresh wave of homophobia has hit Senegal, with strong enforcement laws leading to multiple arrests of individuals suspected of engaging in same sex relations. This queer hunt has become the catalyst for doubling the already existing anti-LGBTQ law by Senegal’s National Assembly. 

On March 11 2026, Senegal legislators, with a vote ratio of 135 to 0, unanimously approved a bill to increase the maximum prison sentence from five years to a total of ten years. By the end of the same month, the Senegalese president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, passed the bill into law, increasing additional fine rates from between 100,000 and 1.5 million CFA francs to a minimum of 2 million and up to 10 million CFA francs. 

Barely a month after the new anti-LGBTQ law was passed, its judicial effects have started to take effect with a conviction recently occurring on Friday, April 10, at the Pikine-Guédiawaye High Court in Dakar, where a man named Mbaye Diouf was found guilty of public indecency and committing unnatural acts. His arrest was initiated by a witness who filmed Diouf and an unidentified partner without their consent in what was labelled a “compromising scene.”  The witness then called for their arrest. However, only Diouf was arrested as he was unable to flee the scene while his partner absconded. 

Following his arrest, Diouf pleaded guilty, admitting he engaged in the act with an agreement to get paid 2,000 CFA francs, claiming he was unaware that his actions were illegal. The public prosecutor eventually sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment and requested him to pay an extra fine of 2 million CFA francs, which is approximately $3,591.

This case proves that Senegal has become unsafe for queer people, and the stringent enforcement won’t be alleviated anytime soon. This is the first case of many potential convictions, and it leaves the question: What is Africa’s obsession with queer people, and why are queer rights still being stifled?  Across the continent, 31 countries actively criminalise same-sex relationships with death penalties in Mauritania and some parts of Nigeria,  Somalia and Sudan where Sharia law is practiced. In other countries like Ghana, simply identifying as a queer individual or advocating for LGBTQ rights can lead to a jail term of five to ten years.