Why We Have Written to Senegal’s Consulate in Australia

LGB Alliance Australia has written to Senegal’s Honorary Consul-General in Australia to express our concern about reports that Senegal’s parliament and President have recently approved legislation increasing penalties for consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex, and may also move against those who advocate for lesbian, gay and bisexual rights.

We have done this as part of an international effort with our partner organisations in LGB International. When governments move to punish private, consensual relationships between adults, or target those who defend basic freedoms, that matters far beyond one country’s borders.

Australia’s formal relationship with Senegal is fairly limited. Australia is represented here is through an honorary consular post in Victoria, with jurisdiction across Australia.

That limited relationship is no reason to stay quiet. Even where ties are modest, public concern still matters. Diplomatic representatives should hear that Australians object to the criminalisation of lesbian, gay and bisexual people and to any attempt to suppress peaceful advocacy on our behalf.

If you share these concerns, you can write respectfully to Senegal’s Consulate-General in Australia and ask that your views be conveyed to the Senegalese government. The consulate is listed by DFAT in Carlton, Victoria, and is headed by Honorary Consul-General Michael Leopold Bula.

We believe private, consensual sexual activity between adults should never be treated as a crime. We also believe lesbian, gay and bisexual people everywhere deserve the basic freedoms that others take for granted.