President Barack Obama, kicking off a long-awaited African tour, lauded a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage as a victory for democracy and urged African nations to end discrimination against homosexuals.
In only his second visit to Africa since taking office, Obama hailed the advance of democracy there and said he was looking at ways to extend the AGOA free trade agreement, due to expire in 2015, to create more jobs on the world’s poorest continent.
“I see this a moment of great promise for the continent,” Obama told a news conference in Senegal’s capital Dakar. “All too often the world overlooks the amazing progress that Africa is making, including progress in strengthening democracy.”
Flanked by Senegal’s President Macky Sall, Obama said the treatment of lesbians and gays in Africa remained “controversial”. Homosexuality is illegal in Muslim Senegal.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday, announced as Obama flew to Senegal aboard Air Force One, made married gay men and women eligible for federal benefits, striking down part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.
“It was a victory for American democracy,” Obama said. “At the root of who we are as a people, who we are as Americans, is the basic precept that we are all equal under the law.”
However, the court fell short of a broader ruling endorsing a fundamental right of gay people to marry, meaning there will be no impact in the more than 30 states that do not recognize gay marriage.
agencies
Leave a Reply