“Burkina Faso’s parliament has passed a law banning homosexuality with offenders facing two to five years in prison,” reports Africa News:
The amended family code was approved by the parliament on Monday in an unanimous vote that puts the code into effect more than a year after it was approved by the military government of Ibrahim Traore.
Burkina Faso joins the list of more than half of Africa’s 54 countries that have laws banning homosexuality with the penalties ranging from several years in prison to the death penalty. The laws, though criticised abroad, enjoy popularity in the countries where locals and officials have criticised homosexuality as behavior imported from abroad and not a sexual orientation.
Burkina Faso’s neighbour and close ally Mali – which is also ruled by a military junta – passed a similar law in November…In Uganda merely engaging in same-sex relations can carry a life sentence.
Burkina Faso’s new law goes into effect immediately with individuals in same-sex relationships risking prison sentences as well as fines, Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said…He described homosexual acts as “bizarre behavior.”
