(ANSA) - DAKAR, MAY 23 - Several hundred people demonstrated today in Dakar, Senegal, to ask that homosexuality become a crime. AFP journalists report this, stating that currently in the country it is not illegal to declare oneself gay but sex in flagrantee is already punished with up to five years in prison.
The demonstration, organized by And Samm Jikko Yi, a civil society collective that says it wants to promote "correct values", was attended by religious leaders and civil society personalities.
Amid applause and slogans to speeches that supported the justice and legitimacy of homophobia, some protesters went further, shouting phrases such as: "We will kill them", or "we will book alive".
The government of Senegal has repeatedly ruled out the legalization of homosexuality. The president, Macky Sall, has already pointed out in the past that although homosexuals are not ostracized in the nation of 16 million, the ban on homosexual practices reflects cultural customs.
Consensual homosexual relationships are legal in 21 of 54 African countries, according to a 2019 report by the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersexual Association. (HANDLE).
