President Obama Makes Gay Rights Call During Kenya Trip: But President Of Kenya Calls It A ‘Non-Issue’

Obama had made it quite clear that raising the issue of equal treatment for same seks individuals would be a key part of his engagement with African leaders.

As expected however, Kenya’s President was in no mood to be lectured on equal treatment for all his citizens, calling gay rights a ‘non-issue’.

“If you look at the history of countries around the world, when you start treating people differently, not because of any harm they’re doing anybody but because they’re different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode and bad things happen. When a government gets in the habit of treating people differently, those habits can spread.” Obama said, during a joint press conference with the Kenyan leader, Uhuru Kenyatta.

“As an African-American in the United States, I am painfully aware of the history of what happens when people are treated differently under the law.” He added.

Kenya’s President responded that gay rights aren’t a priority for them at the moment. That they have several other more important issues to deal with than that.

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

“It is very difficult for us to be able to impose upon that which they themselves do not accept. This is why I repeatedly say that for Kenyans today, the issue of gay rights is really a non-issue. We want to focus on other areas that are day-to-day living for our people.”

He is not going to get any better responses in any other African country.