The sentence for the crime of ‘homosexuality’ is 5 years in prison in Senegal, but a judge sent eight men to prison today for eight years, presumably to make an example of them. Police arrested the men on December 19th at a flat in Dakar where they’d meet.
Bear with us a bit as there doesn’t seem to be any English news source on this story and our French is rusty. From the French magazine Tetu (pardon the translation):
“The International Commission for the Rights of the Gays and Lesbians (IGLHRC) announced that eight men who appeared on Tuesday in Dakar for on charges of homosexuality have “all been condemned to eight years of firm imprisonment “. This sentence is greater than that mandated by the Senegalese law, according to which relations between persons of the same sex are punishable of five years of prison.”
seitan-on-a-stick
Emigrate to the U.S!
Alco
The translation is correct, no need to apologize!
That said, this is a very sad story.
chuck
Thank you, Abdoulaye Wade, current president of Senegal. One of those lovely places where a judge can take it upon himself to supercede the law of the land. And they call themselves a democracy?
95% of Senegals population is Islamic. 4% are Catholics.
The remaining 1% presumably, don’t give a good shit, one way or the other.
No wonder Africa is called the dark continent.
Emigrate to the U.S. you say? Do you really think that Mr. Bush would give sanctuary and domicile to known homosexuals from a foreign land?
chuck
PS: Who knows, they might just be “terrorists”, according to Krazy-Kern from Oklahoma.
tallskin
Seiten, you really are such a silly arse. How are all the gays in the homophobic hellhole that is africa supposed to get into the USA?
No, far better that they fight their corner like we’ve all had to, and change their societies from within.
michael
How sad, how very sad. And what is just as sad is that we live in a country where, if many had their way, would do the same thing and who knows, maybe someday they will. We will get to hear one of them speak on inauguration day!
chuck
@ron:
No need to travel that far. Save on the airfare. Our own Caribbean area if rife with homophobia and countries that turn everything to shit. If you’re gay, your life’s not worth a plugged nickel in any of the following countries.
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
Belize
Dominica
Grenada
Jamaica
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
Trinadad and Tobago
And, if you are a white queer, it’s even worse. Chances are pretty good that you either get beaten up or murdered before you are conviced, which makes imprisonment look like sanctuary.
seitan-on-a-stick
Ok, we heard from the KKKgays. Foreskin/Ron/Churchlady are all living in fear of a black planet! If homophobes can emigrate here for religious freedom, why can’t people who’s very lives are threatened as per conditions of Asylum whether from the continent of Africa or the Middle East. I’d rather brave gays who tried but failed in a brutal society to be awarded Amnesty. With 2 weeks to his failed Presidency, who cares about Bush’s policies now that he is a has-been? Barack Obama would more likely do something for fellow Africans than let two same-gender loving Americans get married. Foreskin talks like the silly Queen Mother: “Harumph, I gots me a fishbone stuck in me throat, Guv’nor” We laugh when you use the word arse but I don’t mean to parse words. Ass cuts through glass better…
tierceguy
I never understood why people get thrown in jail for homosexuality – it’s not like there’s any male on male sex in prison.
BrianPrince
In the U.S., we have a habit of sending people to prison longer than is mandated, too….
caka
homosexuality? It is not bad. And I find there are tens of homosexuality on a STD dating community” STDpal***com”.
HYHYBT
How exactly are they supposed to emigrate when they’re stuck in prison for the next eight years?
Interesting notion, a crime of being… I know it’s really a charge for homosexual *acts*, but logically, would one charge of “being a homosexual” count for your whole life, or would each moment you don’t become straight count as a fresh offense?
hardmannyc
These are probably two dirt-poor slobs who would not have the wherewithal to leave even if they could or could think of it. Immigration is hardly an option for every lgbt person in Africa. This is a real problem. These African nations are backward – there’s on other word for it. And yes, in this we in the West are superior. Sometimes, you gotta call it like it is.
hardmannyc
that’s a good translation, BTW.
tallskin
Satan, I stand my my earlier comment that every remark you make here on Queerty simply reveals you as an utter arse.
lisa
@hardmannyc- please go fuck yourself-backwards. i bet you don’t even know you sound so racist and elitist. the west is superior? then how come it took until 2003 for sodomy laws to be stricken off the books in the u.s? how come gays can still be fired for being gay? why is the suicide rate higher for gays teens and why are about 40 % of homeless teens lgbt? you and all the other asses who don’t want africans emigrating here and feel the need to refer to AFRICA THE CONTINENT as the “dark continent” WHEN ONLY ONE FREAKING COUNTRY in that continent, SENEGAL, is being discussed need to take the white sheets off your heads and take the dicks out of your mouths for a minute so that you can see the world for what it is. the west is hardly fucking perfect, as evidenced by your unabashed racism, xenophobia, and ignorance towards others like yourself in another country.
lisa
and this site is SO geared towards ignoramus white gay men it’s despicable. from the all male, mostly white “morning goods” models to the rancid comments of idiotic white gay boy meth heads, it’s so white gay male centric. and you wonder why the lgbt community has such a hard time coalescing. websites that FALSELY purport to be inclusive and representative of the lgbt but REALLY end up only catering to white males. hmm…god doesn’t that happen like ALL THE FUCKING TIME? this will be my last time visiting this site, but i do have a question, why don’t the mods just change the name of this website to White Gay Male instead of Queerty? just admit what segment of the community you’re really concerned with because the actual subject matter of your site is not fooling anyone.
seitan-on-a-stick
I’m just shining light on Foreskin with my arse! Did I hit a nerve, Sweetie-darling coz your wit dried up?
Still holding onto the argument that glbt Senegalese should emigrate to the U.S or other free-er societies and how hard would it be to break out of a Senegal prison or emigrate after release? Nelson Mandela became President of post-Apartheid South Africa after 20 years of incarceration.
I would certainly greet them at the airport with their Toaster Oven for being Gay!
ron
Bye bye Lisa, you won’t be missed. By the way, the models are young white males because that’s what people want to see. And your comment that white gay males are all on meth ranks with the most racist comments made on this site. Also, the name of the site is a play-on-words of the qwerty keyboard style, but you are obviously too dumb to figure that out.
seitan-on-a-stick
Ron, you forgot to preface your name with MO! Okay, Lisa did not articulate her argument well but this racist fomenting from back in the Primaries and Prop8 “false statistical blaming” based on race have driven reasonable-minded gay persons from this site, leaving the fringe racists who will sink the SS Queerty fast. It already happened as Corporate sponsors don’t want to be affiliated with Racism, even Abercrombie and Fitch!
BobP
Lisa,
Your comments are offensive to me and other gay white men who have fought long and hard for rights for all of us. Some of us who fought in the long war against AIDS even fought for rights and benfits for heterosexual blacks, who would never EVER have done the same for us.
My heart goes out to the gays in many, many African nations who are treated so horribly.
Maybe you should channel your anger and whatever awful feelings you harbor and actually try to help someone else.
Your feelings can’t be taken as anything other than racism, and it sickens me.