President Barack Obama will put an emphasis on the importance of LGBT rights in his state visit to Kenya, he told the BBC.
Despite several trips to Africa during his presidency, this it the first time the President has visited Kenya — the birthplace of his father — while in office. In an interview with the BBC ahead of his trip, Obama made clear that he would be raising the issue of LGBT rights with Kenya’s president, despite protests from some politicians in the nation.
“The deputy president in Kenya, who you’re going to meet, Mr Ruto, he said, ‘We have heard that in the US they have allowed gay relations and other dirty things,'” BBC correspondent Jon Sopel told the President.
“Yeah. Well, I disagree with him on that, don’t I?” Obama responded. “And I’ve had this experience before when we’ve visited Senegal in my last trip to Africa.
“I was very blunt about my belief that everybody deserves fair treatment, equal treatment in the eyes of the law and the state,” he continued. “And that includes gays, lesbians, transgender persons. I am not a fan of discrimination and bullying of anybody on the basis of race, on the basis of religion, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender.”
The President declared that LGBT rights would be “front and center” as part of his agenda, alongside Kenya’s treatment of women and girls. Mr. Obama emphasized his personal connection to the nation, which fueled a desire to see greater equality in the region.
“As somebody who has family in Kenya and knows the history of how the country so often is held back because women and girls are not treated fairly, I think those same values apply when it comes to different sexual orientations,” he said.
The President won’t have an easy task ahead of him in convincing Kenyans that LGBT rights are an important part of improving their nation. A UN report determined that homosexuality is “largely considered to be taboo and repugnant to [the] cultural values and morality” of Kenya. Sex between men is illegal, punishable by up to 21 years in prison, while transgender individuals are often subject to stigma and violence from the general public.
Senegal has launched a harsh crackdown on LGBTQ people, making mass arrests and violating their rights, leading some to go into hiding for fear of prosecution.
In March, Senegalese lawmakers passed a law doubling the maximum prison term for same-sex relations to 10 years and criminalizing pro-LGBTQ advocacy, including the promotion or financing of homosexuality.
Even before the enhanced penalties were passed, the country's law criminalizing "acts against nature" was used to prosecute same-sex activity. The law also groups same-sex activity with necrophilia and bestiality, among other offenses.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, has reportedly paid at least 29 accounts with histories of promoting anti-LGBTQ rhetoric for posts ahead of this year's midterm elections.
According to reporting from Uncloseted Media and The 19th, Meta pays these creators through Facebook Content Monetization, a program launched in 2024 that allows eligible creators to earn money based on the performance of their public Facebook posts, including text, Stories, Reels, longer videos, and photos.
Many creators celebrated the program's launch, with some reporting a major increase in their earnings. But critics say the program encourages inflammatory posts and so-called "rage bait" to increase engagement.
A new AI-generated attack ad supporting Jennifer Balkcom, the Republican nominee for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, accuses Democratic nominee Jamie Ager of hosting a barn dance with drag queens and children.
The ad, paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee and approved by Balkcom, was posted to the North Carolina Republican Party's official X account on October 22.
The ad shows Ager speaking into a microphone, with a Progress Pride flag hanging on a barn wall behind him. "Wanna know what we need more of in Washington, D.C.? Barn dances!" he says, as ABBA's "Dancing Queen" starts playing.
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