When United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the 18th African Union (AU) Summit on the 23 January 2012 in Addia Ababa, Ethiopia, even though the theme was on “Boosting Intra-Africa Trade,” [[1]] his message for African leaders to respect the Human Rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people was a strong one.

‘GayStarNews’ quoted Ban Ki-Moon as saying:

“One form of discrimination ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long has been discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It prompted governments to treat people as second class citizens or even criminals.”

And: “Confronting these discriminations is a challenge, but we must not give up on the ideas of the universal declaration of human rights.” [[1]]

A vast majority of African countries have declared homosexuality illegal. One such country is Gambia (West Africa).

With anestimated population of 1.7 million, approximately 92% are Sunni Muslim and the remainder make up a collection of Christian denominations [[2]], homosexuals in Gambia currently face up to 14 years in prison. [[3]]

In the same article featured by ‘GayStarNews,’ The South African Press Association reported that Gambia’s president, Yahya Jammeh, made homophobic comments on the 17 February 2012 during the swearing in of 15 ministers to his new government. [[4]]

The article further quotes him as saying:

“We know what human rights are. Human beings of the same sex cannot marry or date.”

“If you think it is human rights to destroy our culture, you are making a great mistake because if you are in the Gambia, you are in the wrong place then,' he added.[[5]]

Wikipedia reported an announcement made by Jammeh on the 15 May 2008 stating that:

“...his government would introduce legislation that would set rules against homosexuals that would be "stricter than those in Iran", and that he would "cut off the head" of any gay or lesbian person discovered in the country. News reports indicated his government intended to have all homosexuals in the country killed. He gave a "final ultimatum" to any gays or lesbians in The Gambia to leave the country. “ [[6]]

Imam Muhsin Hendricks, Executive Director of The Inner Circle – A Human Rights Organization that provides support to Muslims who are marginalized based on Sexual Orientation and Gender had this to say:

“I’m not quite sure which African culture the Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh, is referring to. It is evident from so many African cultural and sexual behavioural studies that homosexuality did play a part in the African culture prior to British colonialism. One cannot protect a culture in light of human rights at the expense of the human rights of others. Some would like to make the argument that homosexuality is morally and religiously wrong, however they fail to see how most mainstream religions, specifically Islam, teach respect for human life and dignity leaving the impression that religion leads mankind towards human dignity.”