Chérif* arrived in France in early June, certain of one thing: he could no longer stay in Senegal. «I was going to get arrested,» he is convinced. For weeks after a man he had been seeing was arrested, he lived in constant fear. «As soon as I read about the arrest in the news, all I could think about was fleeing.» The case hit close to home—the arrested man was reportedly a close associate of Ousmane Sonko, Senegal’s former Prime Minister and now Speaker of the National Assembly, who spearheaded the law doubling prison sentences for same-sex relations from five to ten years, passed on March 11. Local media widely covered the arrests of alleged partners. «I knew my friend’s phone would be searched and incriminating messages between us would be found,» Chérif admits. «I deleted every message, photo, and trace of my hidden life.»

In Senegal, he explains, the atmosphere has become suffocating. At home, in the streets, on television, and across social media, «everyone was talking about gay people,» and hate speech spread unchecked. «They’re corrupting the youth, they’re destroying the…