Senegalese President disagrees with Obama over gay rights

US President Barack Obama indulged in a bitter argument with Senegalese President Macky Sall over gay rights. While terming the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage as a “victory for American democracy”, he said this ruling has an international impact and same sex marriage should be recongnised everywhere.

“I believe at the root of who we are as a people, as Americans, is the basic precept that we are all equal under the law. We believe in basic fairness. And what I think yesterday’s ruling signifies is one more step towards ensuring that those basic principles apply to everybody,” Obama said,

Obama also urged African nations to give equal rights to the gays.

Rejecting Obama’s idea, Senegalese President Macky Sall said Obama’s call for African nation to allow same sex marriage and give gays equal rights are impractical.

“We are still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality. This does not mean we are homophobic,” Sall said.

In Senegal, a person who has “an improper or unnatural act with a person of the same sex” can be punished by up to five years in prison.

“People should be treated equally, and that’s a principle that I think applies universally,” Obama said.

(Additional input from Associate Press)

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