Culture is a sorry excuse for intolerance on same sex relationships

If intolerance to same sex relationships is culture, how about FGM, isn’t that part of some cultures, yet wrong.

Before President Obama came, HE William Ruto had made it clear that gays have no place in this Kenya, never mind that in Kenya at the moment there are a number people who say they are in same sex relationships. In a hero’s moment during his address with President Barack Obama after the bilateral talks, President Uhuru Kenyatta differed with President Obama on the issue of gayism saying it is a non issue for Kenya since it is not part Kenyan culture and it can therefore not be imposed on Kenyans. His utterances received a lot of accolades on social media with many calling him brave for standing his ground on the issue.

But how is gayism not being part of our culture a ground for intolerance on same sex relationships? Female Genital Mutilation is part of the culture of some communities in Kenya but the government is totally against and it is in fact a crime based on the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act. Why the double standards when it comes to same sex relationships? Culture should not be a basis for being intolerant on issues of same sex relationships.

Religions may have a point to argue out but still, turning a blind eye on an issue they are totally against does not help. They do not have a strategy to counter the growing perception that there is nothing wrong with being in same sex relationships. So the church and the government will wake up a couple of years from now and realize big numbers of people in same sex relationships who have come out of the closet and then gayism will become an issue.

Probably then, we will coin another excuse to continue fueling the intolerance.