Ethiopia: Opposition to Western Pressure to Favor Homosexuality

In a statement published on February 12, 2024, the permanent synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church denounced “the influence of Western countries on homosexuality.” It also asked the government not to give in to their pressure, in order to “protect society.”

The synod recalls that homosexuality is “unacceptable to God, who created the wisdom of the world.” Thus, “totally forbidden by the holy books” which contain divine messages, it is also condemned by “the rules of psychology.”

It “upsets mental balance and disturbs individual identity and the social bonds,” asserts the synod, which emphasizes that homosexuality is prohibited and considered a crime by the country’s laws. People found guilty of homosexuality in fact incur a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

In addition, the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia also published a statement against “the European pressure” exercised on the government concerning homosexuality and manifested in a ten-year agreement of economic cooperation, signed in 2016, between the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific) countries and the European Union.

Certain passages of this text “contradict the religious and cultural values of the Ethiopian people, as well as well-known sentences and articles of international organizations and bodies.”

The expression “health and sexual and genetic rights,” mentioned in article 36.2 of the agreement, is directly linked to sexual rights, sex change, abortion, universal sex education, and “the legalization of adultery,” the Inter-Religious Council specifies.