Burkina Faso has become the latest African nation to outlaw homosexuality, after lawmakers unanimously passed an amendment to the family code that criminalizes same-sex relations. The legislation, broadcast by state television late Monday, imposes prison terms of two to five years for offenders.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, speaking on national television, said the law takes effect immediately. He warned that anyone caught engaging in same-sex relationships faces prosecution, declaring that homosexual acts represent “bizarre behavior.” “You will go before the judge,” he reportedly cautioned.
Officials see the decision as a defense of “marriage and family values,” a sentiment that reflects wider attitudes across the continent.
More than half of Africa’s 54 countries have similar laws, with punishments ranging from long prison sentences to, in some states, the death penalty. While heavily condemned internationally, such legislation often garners strong domestic support, with homosexuality frequently denounced as a foreign import rather than an identity.
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The passage of the bill comes more than a year after it was first introduced by the military government led by Capt. Ibrahim Traore. The junta, which seized power in a 2022 coup, pledged to restore stability in the face of worsening insecurity. Rights groups, however, accuse Traore’s government of eroding civil liberties through mass arrests and forced military recruitment of critics.
Since taking over power after Burkina Faso’s second coup in 2022, Traore has also sought to cast himself as a pan-African leader, amplifying anti-Western rhetoric that resonates strongly with many of Africa’s youth.
