President Obama Advocates for Gay Rights in Kenya, Kenyan Leaders Dismiss this as ‘non-issue’

CANAA || By Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla || 27 July 2015

President Obama called for respect of gays and lesbians in Kenya and on the African continent while his counterpart, President Kenyatta dismissed the topic on gay rights as a “non-issue” for Kenyans.

The two presidents were responding to questions from journalists who had gathered at State House on Saturday to cover the joint press conference.

“With respect to the rights of gays and lesbians, I have been consistent all across Africa on this. I believe in the principle of treating people equally under the law and that they are deserving of equal protection under the law and that the State should not discriminate against the people based on their sexual orientation,” President Obama stated.

He explained, “If you look at the history of countries around the world, when you start treating people differently not because of the harm that they are doing to anybody but because they are different, that is the path whereby freedoms begin to erode and bad things happen.”

President Obama went on to explain the basis of his viewpoint saying, “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. There were all sorts of rationalizations that were provided by the power structure for decades in the United States for segregation and they were wrong.”

“The State does not need to weigh in on religious doctrine; the State has to treat everybody equally under the law and then everybody else can have their opinions,” President Obama clarified.

President Kenyatta, on his part, termed the discussion around gays and lesbians and their rights a “non-issue” for an average Kenyan.

While acknowledging shared values between Kenya and the U.S like the “love for democracy, entrepreneurship and value for families,” President Kenyatta cautioned against the attempt “to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept” in direct reference to the topic of gays and lesbians.

“This is why I repeatedly say that for Kenyans today, the issue of gay rights is really a non-issue,” President Kenyatta affirmed, enlisting the areas of priority for Kenyans such as health, inclusivity of women, infrastructure, and education.

“Once we have overcome some of these challenges, we can begin to look at new ones. As of now, the fact remains that this issue is not really an issue that is on the foremost minds of Kenyans and that is a fact,” President Kenyatta concluded.

Leaders and a cross-section of Kenyans have lauded President Kenyatta’s firm stand on the controversial topic of same-sex marriages, saying his sentiments resonated well with Kenyans.

“He never fumbled. His body language, posture and demeanour carried the sovereignty of our people. He made us proud as Kenyans. It demonstrated that we are a sovereign nation and we are not living as underdogs,” Senator Kipchumba Murkomen of Elgeyo-Marakwet has been quoted as saying.

“Other leaders could have been swayed by the goodies that Mr Obama pledged, to evade the question or to blindly echo his sentiments in due disregard of what Kenyans stood for,” a businessman in Nairobi has been quoted by a Kenyn local daily.

Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi are among high ranking officials who spoke against same-sex marriages ahead of President Obama’s visit to Kenya, the homeland of his father.

Before leaving the U.S for Kenya, President Obama had told a BBC journalist in an exclusive interviewthat he would continue to deliver his "blunt message" to African leaders about gay rights and discrimination.

Commenting on President Obama’s interview with the BBC journalist, Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo diocese in Nigeria, also serving as the Episcopal Chairman of the Pan-African Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), said, “As a Nigerian I worry little about President Obama's mind set about the United States needing to have a presence "to promote the values that we care about" as he said in the interview.”

Bishop Badejo would prefer that President Obama figures out other rights aside from those affecting lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons.

“Most Africans care about religious values, about the family, about the complementary nature of man and woman and the culture that makes us Africans. Why can we not choose what "benevolence" to accept from the West? Why can we not just be helped to fight corruption, terrorism, unemployment disease and illiteracy?” Bishop Badejo questioned.

“Nobody should be killed for private wayward or immoral behaviors that do not compromise other people's lives but that does not mean all kinds of exotic sexual adventure must be foisted on other nationalities in the name of rights,” Bishop Badejo observed.

“Every world culture has its own bright and dark spots and history of human rights and Africa is not much worse than others, if we be sincere.  America claims to be a great democracy and the proof of that fact will be found in her capacity for sincere dialogue and readiness to respect the legitimate values and world view of other peoples,” Bishop Badejo said.

Meanwhile, in other forums during his three-day visit to Kenya, President Obama asked the Kenyan youth to seek opportunities at home and encouraged parents to educate their girls.

He rallied Kenyans to “pull together” and confront challenges bedeviling their country, from corruption to negative ethnicity to inequality.

President Obama left for Ethiopia Sunday evening after a landmark trip to Kenya to officially begin a two-day visit on Monday.

South Sudan peace bid was a major focus as President Obama held talks with regional leaders in an attempt to build African support for decisive action against the war-torn country's leaders if they reject an ultimatum to end the violent conflict by mid-August.