Burkina’s LGBTQ community fears ‘witch-hunt’

QUENTIN, like others in Burkina Faso, fears a new anti-gay law will spark a “witch hunt” against the already at-risk LGBTQ community, which has been forced even further underground.

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Adopted earlier this month by the ruling junta, the criminalisation of same-sex relationships “can change how the population behaves towards us gay people’, the young man said.

“With this law, there will be no more respite,’ said Quentin, whose name was changed to protect his identity, as with other people interviewed for this report.

“People will feel invested in a mission: tracking down gay people,” said Quentin, who worries about a “witch hunt” as a result.

Other members of the Burkinabe LGBTQ community voiced similar concerns over the law, the latest in a slew of anti-gay legislation passed on the African continent.