News: Chad has become the 37th country in Africa to ban homosexuality

Chad is poised to pass a new law banning homosexuality with a punishment of up to 20 years in prison. The government ministers have signed on, but it has yet to be ratified by the president. It would make Chad the 37th country in Africa to enact such a ban. The ministers claim the law works to “protect the family and to comply with Chadian society." The addition of the ban on gays is part of a larger overhaul of the penal code, which includes the abolition of the death penalty.

The decision, yet to be ratified by the country’s president, was condemned by human rights groups as another setback in the struggle for gay rights on the continent. Chad’s penal code is more than half a century old and does not explicitly mention homosexuality.

But section 361 of a draft new code states the punishment for anyone who has sexual intercourse with someone of the same sex is 15 to 20 years in jail and a fine of 50,000-500,000 Central African francs (£60-£600), according to a document seen by Agence France-Presse.

Last month the Gambia passed a bill imposing life imprisonment for “aggravated homosexuality” relating to repeat offenders and people living with HIV/Aids. The Gambia’s president, Yahya Jammeh, has previously told gay men and lesbians to leave the country or risk beheading.

Uganda recently attempted to impose draconian penalties for the “promotion of homosexuality”, including life sentences for various same sex acts. The law was struck down by judges on a technicality but is expected to be reintroduced by MPs.

In January, the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed into law a bill criminalising same-sex “amorous relationships” and membership of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights groups. Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, regularly attacks gay people in speeches and recently said he resented western aid because it depended on conditions such as accepting homosexuality.