President Barack Obama is expected in his ancestral home, Kenya, for a state visit. And one of his stated goals is to convince the world’s most homophobic continent to make some structural reforms.
The US Supreme Court legalised gay marriages in a case that has attracted worldwide attention and divided opinions everywhere, earlier this month. Obama, on a trip to the land of his father, has said telling African leaders to shelve discrimination would be top of his agenda.
“I am not a fan of discrimination and bullying of anybody on the basis of race, on the basis of religion, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender. And I think that this is actually part and parcel of the agenda that’s also going to be front and centre, and that is how are we treating women and girls?” he told the BBC.
He said he made that very clear during his last trip to Africa, in Senegal, whose President also passed certain derogatory comments about gay people.
“I was very blunt about my belief that everybody deserves fair treatment, equal treatment in the eyes of the law and the state.
“And that includes gays, lesbians, transgender persons.”
President Obama would address the global entrepreneurship summit in Nairobi as part of his visit, whilst he’ll also address the African Union when he travels to Ethiopia on Sunday.
Obama better be prepared for some insults because that’s all he’ll get out of this continent.
This post was published on July 24, 2015 1:03 PM
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