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New York — 4/2/26 The Black Diaspora Liberty Initiative (BDLI) strongly condemns the recent expansion of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Senegal, warning that the law will significantly increase violence, criminalization, and forced displacement of LGBTQ+ individuals particularly those already living at the intersections of racial, economic, and social marginalization.

On March 11, Senegal’s parliament voted to increase prison sentences for same-sex relations from five to up to ten years, passing the measure with 135 votes in favor and three abstentions and on March 31st, the president signed the measure into law, formalizing a dangerous escalation of policies that target LGBTQ+ people.

While Senegal has long criminalized same-sex intimacy, BDLI emphasizes that this expansion represents more than a continuation of existing law — it is a deepening of state-sanctioned harm that legitimizes surveillance, punishment, and exclusion.

Escalation of Criminalization and Its Impact

BDLI warns that laws of this nature extend far beyond legal text. In practice, they create an environment where violence is normalized and protection becomes inaccessible.

The expansion of this law is expected to:

• Increase arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention of LGBTQ+ individuals

• Legitimize harassment, extortion, and physical violence by both state and non-state actors

• Force individuals into hiding, homelessness, or displacement

• Severe access to essential services such as healthcare, employment, and housing

“These laws do not operate in isolation,” said Uchechukwu Onwa, Executive Director of BDLI. “They embolden communities to police one another, they justify violence, and they send a clear message that certain people are not worthy of safety or dignity.”

A Broader Political and Social Context

Senegal is often recognized internationally as a politically stable country within West Africa. However, stability does not equate to equity or justice.

Many Senegalese communities continue to face:

• Economic inequality and limited employment opportunities, particularly for youth

• Gaps in public services, including healthcare and social protection systems

• Growing public concern around governance, accountability, and access to resources

BDLI underscores that in moments of political and economic strain, marginalized communities are often used as scapegoats.

“Instead of addressing the structural issues impacting everyday people, from economic hardship to governance challenges — governments too often redirect public attention toward vulnerable communities,” said Onwa. “LGBTQ+ people become the distraction, rather than addressing the root causes affecting the broader population.”

From Criminalization to Displacement

As an organization working directly with Black LGBTQ+ migrants, BDLI highlights the direct link between laws like these and forced migration.

For many LGBTQ+ individuals, criminalization is not just about legal risk, it becomes a matter of survival.

“This is how displacement begins,” Onwa added. “People are not leaving home because they want to. They are being pushed out by policies that make it impossible to live safely and openly.”

BDLI notes that individuals fleeing such conditions often face compounded harm when navigating global immigration systems, including detention, deportation, and systemic barriers to asylum.

This creates a cycle in which Black LGBTQ+ individuals are criminalized in their home countries and again in the countries where they seek refuge.

A Global Pattern of Control

BDLI situates the developments in Senegal within a broader global trend of increasing restrictions on marginalized communities.

Across regions, there has been a rise in:

• Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation

• Anti-immigrant policies

• Expanded systems of surveillance and detention

“These systems are interconnected,” said Onwa. “They are rooted in the same logic, control, exclusion, and the policing of bodies that do not conform.”

“This is punishment,” said Onwa. “It is the state deciding that certain lives are disposable, that certain identities must be erased in order to maintain power.

As a Black queer immigrant, I know what it means to flee systems that criminalize your existence, only to encounter new forms of that same violence elsewhere. These laws do not just stay within borders, they follow us, they shape our migration journeys, and they determine whether we live in safety or survival.

Let us be clear: there is nothing un-African about being queer. What is un-African is the continued use of fear, colonial-era laws, and political scapegoating to harm our own people.

We refuse silence. We refuse erasure. And we will continue to fight across borders, for a world where Black LGBTQ+ people are free, protected, and able to live fully as themselves.”

Call to Action

BDLI calls on:

1. International governments and human rights institutions
   To hold Senegal accountable to its human rights obligations and challenge laws that criminalize identity and endanger lives.

2. Philanthropy and global funders
   To invest in grassroots LGBTQ+ organizations across West Africa, including initiatives focused on legal aid, emergency relocation, and community protection.

3. Advocates, organizers, and civil society
   To amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ Senegalese individuals and resist narratives that justify violence in the name of culture, religion, or tradition.

4. The global Black diaspora
   To stand in solidarity and recognize that the fight for Black liberation is inherently global and interconnected.

About Black Diaspora Liberty Initiative (BDLI)

The Black Diaspora Liberty Initiative (BDLI) is a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting Black LGBTQ+ immigrants through community care, advocacy, leadership development, and direct support services. BDLI works to ensure that Black migrants navigating displacement, detention, and systemic exclusion have access to resources, safety, and pathways to thrive, while working towards uniting the Black LGBTQ+ communities in the diaspora.