Senegal Rejects Obama's Push for Gay Rights

VOICE OF AMERICA: DAKAR — During President Obama’s visit to Dakar, he and Senegalese President Macky Sall were asked about Senegal's treatment of homosexuals. The U.S. Supreme Court handed down two rulings this week that expanded the rights of gays in the United States to get married. President Obama said his message for Africa is that everyone should be treated equally by the law, while President Sall said Senegal is "not ready" to de-criminalize homosexuality.

Front-page headlines in Senegal's Friday morning papers said it all.

One read, "Macky Resists Light Pressure from Obama and clashes with the USA," and another: "Obama Makes the Case For Gays, Macky Says No!"

In Dakar, many Senegalese said they agree with their president.

"Homosexuality is not part of our culture and we are not ready to accept it." Mareme Diop said. "Maybe the West accepts it, but we think it is wrong."

Many invoked religion. "As Muslims, we cannot accept homosexuality." Moussa Gueye said, "this is a secular country, but it is also 95 percent Muslim." » | Anne Look | Friday, June 28, 2013

Dakar from Africa's Gay Capital to Centre of Homophobia
afrol NEWS: In colonial times, Senegal's metropolis Dakar was famous for its open and tolerated homosexual prostitution market, and as late as in the 1970s, as many as 17 percent of Senegalese men admitted having had homosexual experiences. Now, Dakar is West Africa's centre of gay oppression.

The government of Senegal has made it clear that homosexuality is un-African. Since 1965, same-sex activity has been punishable by up to five years imprisonment, but only during the last five years, Dakar's former visible gay community has had to go underground, risking punishment.



Dakar's gay history is the best example demonstrating that homosexuality is not un-African. Indeed, homosexuality has been a visible and well-known part of Wolof traditions, and only moralist opinions of the colonialists, later adopted by an increasingly dominant Muslim clergy, led to the suppression of this culture. >>> Staff Writers, afrol News | Friday, June 11, 2010

Muslim Nations: Defame Islam, Get Sued?
EXAMINER: DAKAR, Senegal - The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its religion from political cartoonists and bigots.

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world's Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in this western Africa capital.

The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world.

Though the legal measures being considered have not been spelled out, the idea pits many Muslims against principles of freedom of speech enshrined in the constitutions of numerous Western governments. Muslims Nations: Defame Islam, Get Sued? >>>

ORGANISATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE:
Ten-Year Programme of Action to Meet the Challenges Facing the Muslim Ummah in the 21st Century

Hat tip: Always On Watch

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Warnung vor zunehmender Islamfeindlichkeit
Meinungsfreiheit umfasse nicht das Recht auf Gotteslästerung - OIC-Präsident Abdoulaye Wade
NZZ Online: Die Organisation der Islamischen Konferenz hat zu Beginn ihres Gipfels in Dakar vor zunehmender Islamfeindlichkeit gewarnt. In einem Bericht zu dem Thema ist auch die in der Schweiz lancierte Minarettverbots-Initiative aufgeführt.

(sda) Mit «Beunruhigung» reagierte die Organisation der Islamischen Konferenz (OIC) auf die im Mai 2007 von SVP-nahen Kreisen lancierte Initiative zum Verbot von Minaretten. Das Vorhaben in der Schweiz ist im gleichen Kapitel erwähnt wie die islamfeindlichen Karikaturen und der Koran-feindliche Kurzfilm des niederländischen Abgeordneten Geert Wilders.

OIC-Generalsekretär Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu sei von der Schweizer Botschaft in Saudi-Arabien über die Hintergründe der Initiative aufgeklärt worden, schreiben die Verfasser des Berichts.

«Vier von sieben Mitgliedern des Bundesrates sowie eine bedeutende Zahl von Parteien, Vereinigungen und Gruppen» hätten das Vorhaben kritisiert, teilte die Schweizer Botschaft dem OIC-Bericht zufolge am 5. Januar mit. Warnung vor zunehmender Islamfeindlichkeit: Konferenz in Dakar über Schweizer Minarett-Initiative beunruhigt

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)