Criminalization of Homosexuality and Eight Years in Prison

Published January 15, 2009 @ 03:02PM PT

Senegal Last week we wrote about the gross violation of human rights stemming from Senegal, where nine gay men were thrown in jail for eight years simply for being gay, and helping to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS by distributing condoms. Eight years. That's a longer prison sentence than was given to organizers of genocide in Rwanda.

It might be tempting to think that what happens in Senegal stays in Senegal. But the truth is, more than 80 countries currently criminalize homosexuality - some with punishments as severe as death. What's needed is a worldwide voice to combat criminalization.

Enter United Nations, stage left. UN officials today announced that they are starting to work with a coalition of human rights groups to lobby Senegalese leaders for the release of the nine gay men. And they're using public health as a starting point of dialogue.

According to UN officials, criminalization of homosexuality, like the kind we're seeing in Senegal, is a huge hindrance to promoting public health, especially when it comes to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. "There is no place for homophobia," says Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS. "Universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support must be accessible to all people in Senegal who are in need—including men who have sex with men. This will only happen if the men convicted are released and steps taken to rebuild trust with affected communities."

Sidibé is right. Nothing pushes LGBT people back into the closet like the threat of death or imprisonment. And it's a lot harder to promote public health when a large chunk of the population stays underground.

Navi Pillay, the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said a couple weeks ago that laws that criminalize homosexuality are equivalent to Apartheid. It looks like Senegal just proved her right.

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Comments (3)

I'm surprised Rev. Rick Warren's name did not come up; his "work on AIDS" in Africa has turned out not to be anything more than the standard evangelical no sex education, repressing the distribution of condoms, and he's been meeting wtih Anglican bishops upset over the appointment of the US openly gay bishop urging them to cecede from the Anglican/Episcopal church as well as promoting severe anti-gay laws. So far, he's been in Rwanda [not over the genocide but promoting anti-gay] and Nigeria, as well as Virginia supporting the Episcopal churches bid not only to cecede but to take the land and buildings belonging to the larger church although the state court sided with the local church. Yes, Warren with his $$$ and others are working all over the world to continue gay bashing.

Posted by lana matthews on 01/16/2009 @ 01:51PM PT
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The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) has been working at the United Nations since 1978 to add sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class to the International Declaration of Human Rights; every time it comes for a vote to even hear the motion in the past 8 years, the U.S. has voted with Iran, Iraq, and Egypt to crush it. Sad huh? Marriage Equality USA and Kentucky Equality Federation are members of the ILGA and support their work!

Posted by Jordan Palmer on 01/16/2009 @ 01:52PM PT
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Hi. Is there a way to find the prison's name so that we can contact the 9 inmates and send them support?

Posted by M. P. on 02/15/2009 @ 09:21PM PT
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Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.