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Senegal’s new prime minister has criticized the French military presence in the West African country. Ousmane Sonko also criticized efforts by France and the West to promote values that he said didn’t fit with those held by Senegal and other African countries including LGBTQ rights and monogamy. Polygamy is widely practiced in Senegal. Sonko was speaking late Thursday at an event held jointly with the French far-left politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the capital. France has about 350 troops in Senegal.

Georgia's prime minister has joined tens of thousands of people on march through the country's capital to mark the Day of Family Purity. The event on Friday celebrated so-called traditional family values in Georgia where animosity toward sexual minorities is strong. The march was initiated by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 2013. Observances were also held in more than 20 other cities. Liberal groups have complained that the event coincides with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The governing Georgian Dream Party introduced a bill in March curtailing LGBTQ rights. The bill if adopted will prohibit sex changes, adoption by same-sex couples and gatherings that could be regarded as promoting same-sex relations.

The Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley had always loved the Black Church, and developed an ambition in his youth to become a pastor even as he realized he was gay. When he was offered a prestigious job as a minister at age 22, he decided to keep his sexual identity a secret. It took six more years before he stood before his congregation in a Boston suburb and came out. That revelation changed the trajectory of his career, and fueled a new book, called “Queering Black Churches.” he hopes it can serve as a guide for other congregations to become open to LGBTQ people rather than shunning them.

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FILE - Rev. Elaine Saralegui, wearing a rainbow-colored clergy stole and her clerical collar, welcomes congregants to a service at the Metropolitan Community Church, an LGBTQ+ inclusive house of worship, as Ruth the dog stands with her front paws on the altar table, in Matanzas, Cuba, Feb. 2, 2024. In 2015, with support from the U.S.-based LGBTQ+ affirming Metropolitan Community Churches, they converted a house into their church, decked with wooden pews and a stained-glass cross that hangs above the altar. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

While many of the migrants who reach Europe are escaping war, conflict and poverty, an increasing number are fleeing possible prison terms and death sentences because they are gay. International law recognizes that anti-LGBTQ+ persecution is a valid claim for asylum requests. And despite huge obstacles to win asylum on LGBTQ+ grounds, it can be done. But the challenges remain significant for these so-called “rainbow refugees.”

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Ella Anthony, left, and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons pose for a photo with their dog Paddy, during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Monday, March 11, 2024. Knowing that she faced a possible prison term since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum. Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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Ella Anthony and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons show photos of themselves during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Monday, March 11, 2024. Knowing that she faced a possible prison term since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum. Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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Ella Anthony, is hugged by her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Monday, March 11, 2024. Knowing that she faced a possible prison term since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum. Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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Ella Anthony, right, and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons, dance in their house after an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Monday, March 11, 2024. Knowing that she faced a possible prison term since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum. Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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Ella Anthony, right , and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons, flanked by their dog Paddy, have a coffee during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Monday, March 11, 2024. Knowing that she faced a possible prison term since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum. Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)