Gays in Small African Nation Suffer Under New Anti-Gay Ban
A number of African nations, such as Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, have anti-gay laws on the books, lingering remnants of colonial-era penal codes imposed by the British. Here and there, signs of progress can be seen, not least South Africa’s legalization of marriage equality in 2006.
But the small East African nation of Burundi plunged into the past last April with a law criminalizing gays and lesbians, a law that the country had not previously been saddled with due to having been colonized not by the British, but by Belgium, reported an Aug. 3 article at Voice of America.
As a result, gays and lesbians living there say, life has gotten harder for sexual minorities.
Burundi’s persecuted GLBTs had a chance to air their concerns in interviews with the Human Rights Watch, the Voice of America article reported.
The criminalization of consensual sexual intimacy between adults of the same gender might mean that the AIDS epidemic that plagues the continent might grow worse, one interviewee named Yves worried. With the new law in place, men who have sex with men (MSMs) might be reluctant to get tested for HIV.
Such a result could lead to a greater incidence of HIV infections; indeed, AIDS/HIV activists have said much the same thing in other nations that outlaw same-sex intimacy.
Moreover, gays are now facing renewed hostility and pressure in the workplace, in society in general, and even from their own families.
As is common in nations where homosexuality is illegal, the police are also allegedly targeting gays for intimidation.
The anti-gay law passed the national Assembly last year, but international opprobrium delayed its implementation.
However, Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, reportedly made it his project to get the law passed, with his political party supporting anti-gay rallies and lobbying efforts.
Some have characterized Nkurunziza’s anti-gay actions as being the result of political calculation, rather than based in moral outrage.
As in the case of another reversal of gay rights, California’s recent passage of Proposition 8, which stripped gay and lesbian families of access to marriage, equality advocates are hoping that the political climate might shift enough for the new law to be repealed.
The Human Rights Watch’s Boris Dittrich, who is in charge of "homosexual rights advocacy," was quoted in the article as saying, "After the next elections, there might be the possibility that new politicians will see that criminalization of homosexual conduct is a violation of human rights and it doesn’t lead to anything productive.
"So we will continue trying to persuade politicians in Burundi to change course."
The article said that the group is counting on international pressure to help defeat the law.
The article also said that researchers associated with the human rights group had noted that anti-gay prejudice in Burundi, as in many countries around the world, is largely generational: similarly to demographic patterns in the U.S. and other countries, young people in Burundi are much less anti-gay than older people.
Both the Voice of America and American gay Web site Rod 2.0 noted that the political attack on gays coincided with a backlash generated by a GLBT equality group in Burundi gaining greater visibility for the country’s GLBT population.
Much of the anti-gay sentiment emanates from rural areas in the country, which is impoverished even by African standards, ranking among the very poorest nations worldwide.
Anti-gay rallies organized by the currently prevalent political party in Burundi were reportedly filled with participants brought in from the countryside by the busload.
The Aug. 12 Rod 2.0 article also reported that the anti-gay measure was signed into law by President Nkurunziza in secret.
One reader posted a comment at Rod 2.0 claiming, "I am from Burundi and I know friends who are presently in the country and are victims of police hostility and brutality because of this law."
The posting continued, "It is so revolting because anybody can report you to the police and the next thing you know; you find yourself at the police station with absolutely no protection whatsoever..and you are asked the most degrading and dehumanizing questions...then beaten.."
Added the posting, "ENOUGH is ENOUGH."
