Obama calls on African nations to respect gay rights

U.S. President Barack Obama has called on African nations to treat LGBT people equally. President Obama made the comments during a press conference in Kenya.

It’s the first time a sitting US President has visited Kenya, the homeland of President Obama’s father.

President Obama said that gay and lesbian people should be treated equally under the law and the state should not discriminate against people based on sexuality.

President Obama drew a comparison between discrimination over sexuality and racial discrimination.

“When you look at the history of countries around the world, when you start treating people differently, not because of any harm they’re doing to anybody but because they are different, that’s the path by where freedoms begin to erode, and bad things happen. And when a government gets in the habit of treating people differently those habits can spread, and as an African American in the United States I am painfully aware of what happens when people are treated differently.” President Obama said.

In Kenya homosexuality is illegal and punishable by 14 years imprisonment.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta immediately dismissed President Obama’s concern saying that while the countries shared many values gay rights was not one of them.

“The fact of the matter is Kenya and the U.S. share so many values: common love for democracy, entrepreneurship, value for families — these are some things that we share,” President Kenyatta said. “But there are some things that we must admit we don’t share. Our culture, our societies don’t accept.”

President Kenyatta described gay rights as a ‘non-issue’ in Kenya.

OIP Staff