President Obama clashed with Senegalese President while discussing gay rights during his tour of Africa
Following the ruling over gay marriage in the United States with the repeals of DOMA and Prop 8, President Obama began a tour of Africa where he met up with Senegalese President Macky Sall.
During a conversation, Obama mentioned gay rights should be universal, or at least homosexuals should not be under discriminatory laws. President Sall however, disagreed with Obama’s views.
“We are still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality,” said Sall.
The Atlanta Black Star reports, 38 African countries criminalize homosexuality. In countries like Senegal, gays and lesbians can face up to five years in prison. Four countries – Mauritanian, northern Nigeria, southern Somalia and Sudan—it is punishable by death.
According to the Associated Press, in 2008, a Senegalese tabloid released private pictures of a secret gay wedding. Later police in Dakar rounded up the suspected men in the photos.
Homosexuals tried to flee the country in fear of imprisonment, but the neighboring country Gambia, pushed them out as the president threatened decapitation. A Pew Research Center survey showed nine out of ten African respondents believe homosexuals should not be accepted into society.