In recent weeks, political leaders and church figures in Kenya made it clear they did not want to entertain any discussion of gay rights during President Obama’s visit to the African country.
One conservative threatened to stage a march of 5,000 naked people in downtown Nairobi to protest Obama’s support for gay and lesbian rights.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said the issue would not be on the agenda; his deputy, William Ruto, recently called homosexuality “dirty” while a group of Kenyan elders threatened to throw rotten eggs at Obama if he dared to raise the issue.
But Obama dwelled at length on gay rights at Saturday’s news conference with Kenyatta, comparing discrimination against homosexuals with the U.