Appearing this week on CNN, President
Uhuru Kenyatta claimed that gay rights are not an issue of human
rights in Kenya.
Christiane Amanpour, host of CNN
International's Amanpour, asked Kenyatta whether equal rights
for sexual minorities is something he “aspires to” for Kenya,
where gay sex is a crime and violators face up to 14 years in prison.
“I will not engage in a subject that
is of no, it is not of any major importance to people under the
Republic of Kenya,” Kenyatta
said. “This is not an issue, as you would want to put it, of
human rights. This is an issue of society, of our own base as a
culture, as a people.”
“Irregardless of what community you
come from, this is not acceptable, this is not agreeable.”
Kenyatta claimed that 99 percent of
Kenyans support laws prohibiting consensual sex between two people of
the same gender.
“But it's a global issue right now,”
Amanpour responded.
“It's important to them where they
are,” Kenyatta said. “I am saying it's not important to me as
the leader of 49 million Kenyans.”
“This is not a question of
governments accepting or not accepting. This is a question of
society, right?” Kenyatta said, adding that laws reflect social
norms.
Late last month, a
Kenyan judge banned the use of forced anal exams for men suspected of
being gay.