Africans to welcome Obama, but not for a lecture on gay rights like before
Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya Executive Coordinator Lorna Dias speaking to the media at Kenya Human Rights Commission on July 8, 2015. Activists across the continent — many of whom believe that some of the US government’s measures in Africa have backfired — are waiting with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation at what Obama may say. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE
What you need to know:
As the Obama administration has increased funding of gay rights groups abroad, tied overall aid to respect of gay rights and recently created the position of Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons, some African leaders have pushed back with tough anti-gay laws and language that have fuelled sentiment against gay people.
It will be a chance for Obama — who will visit Kenya and Ethiopia during this trip, most likely the last one to Africa during his presidency — to reshape the narrative surrounding gay rights on the continent, activists say.
Charles Kanjama, vice chairman of the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum, which opposes gay rights and has organised protests against Obama’s visit, said that the president’s comments in 2013, along with some American policies, had helped his cause.
President Barack Obama had not even left for his trip to Africa this week when he started getting a lot of advice about what he should — or should not — say about gay rights after he lands.
Some politicians in Kenya have warned against bringing up the topic at all during his visit. Alarmist articles in Nigeria’s news media have argued that Obama will press the continent to accept same-sex marriage. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president and the current head of the African Union, mockingly said that he would propose to Obama.
