Obama Pleads For Gay Rights In Africa

US President Barack Obama on
Saturday called for gay rights in
Africa, comparing homophobia to
racial discrimination he had
encountered in the United States.
In a joint press conference after talks
with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta,
Obama also pushed a tough message
on Kenyan corruption, the civil war in
South Sudan, controversial elections
in Burundi and the fight against
Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab
militants.
“I’ve been consistent all across Africa
on this. When you start treating
people differently, because they’re
different, that’s the path whereby
freedoms begin to erode. And bad
things happen,” he said in a moment
of open disagreement with the
Kenyan leader.
“When a government gets in the habit
of treating people differently those
habits can spread. As an African-
American in the United States I am
painfully aware of what happens
when people are treated differently
under the law. I am unequivocal on
this.”
He said that for “a law-abiding citizen
who is going about their business, and
working at a job and obeying the
traffic signs and not harming
anybody, the idea they will be treated
differently or abused because of who
they love is wrong, full stop.”
Homophobia is on the rise in Africa,
and for his part Kenyatta only
repeated that for him, gay rights was
“a non-issue.”
“There are some things that we must
admit we don’t share. It’s very
difficult for us to impose on people
that which they themselves do not
accept. This is why I say for Kenyans
today the issue of gay rights is really a
non-issue,” Kenyatta said.
Obama arrived in Kenya late on
Friday, making his first visit to the
country of his father’s birth since he
was elected president.

Source: Daily Times