Case in Senegal shows the intensity of homophobia in Africa

A furious controversy has erupted in Senegal over a bare-legged statue of a buxom woman which forms part of a monument tbigger than New York's Statue of Liberty. Its due to be inaugurated in April and is the centerpiece of Senegal's push to be a cultural leader for Africa. Designed by Africa's leading modernist architect, Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, a close adviser to Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the monument may have to be remodeled top cover up the woman's legs. Religious leaders in Muslim Senegal have decried it as un-Islamic for presenting a woman as an object of worship. The statue which is costing the impoverished nation $30 million (21-million-euro) has also raised eyebrows in the donor community.