America
Obama promotes equality for gays in Africa
Nairobi, July 26
US President Barack Obama
spoke on behalf of equality for gays in Africa, the continent with the
most countries which criminalise same-sex relations.
On a visit
charged with symbolism because of Obama's family ties with Kenya, he
criticised the homophobia prevalent in many regimes on the continent.
He is the first sitting US president to set foot in this African nation.
In
a joint press conference on Saturday with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru
Kenyatta, Obama said that no country should discriminate against
citizens because of their sexual orientation.
When asked by
reporters what he thought about the aversion expressed by Kenyan leaders
and associations to the recent legalisation of gay marriage in the US,
Obama said that his country has a long experience of people being
"treated differently under the law".
"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 whereby freedoms begin
to erode and bad things happen," he said.
In his speech at the
Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Obama hailed the surge in economic
dynamism of Kenya and of Africa in general.
Obama, who was brought up by his mother in the absence of his father, particularly praised the work of women entrepreneurs.
This
is Obama's fourth trip to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency. He
will also visit Ethiopia this time around to meet with a number of
African leaders and address the African Union.