In West Africa, military juntas have seized power in Mali (May 24) and in Guinea (Sept. 5) — events that added new challenges for LGBTI citizens in those nations and in neighboring Senegal. The resulting erasion of democracy and weakening of civil society have added to the risks faced by sexual minorities already endangered by powerful homophobic Islamist radicals. During September, journalist Moïse Manoel interviewed LGBTI rights activists in three French-speaking countries — Mali, Guinea and Senegal — about the difficult situations that LGBTI people face there. The first of those interviews, about Senegal, is published below.