Gay Marriage In Cote d’Ivoire, Is It Possible?
A N9.5 million was granted Cote d’Ivoire to combat discrimination against gays. Alassane Ouattara, the Ivorian president, has said that the country will strictly follow its laws and tradition on the issue of gay marriage.
While interacting with Ivorians in Kohogo at the end of his one-week official visit to the Savannah region in the northern part of the country on Monday Mr. Ouattara stated:
“I do not have much comments to make on this issue. We have laws in Cote d’Ivoire, we have traditions too and we will stick to them,’’ the statement quoted him as saying.
The president's statement is coming after the French Embassy in Cote d’Ivoire gave a CFA 30 million (N9.5 million) grant to a non-governmental organisation to fight against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Some ordinary Ivorians expressed concern over the grant, viewing it as a move to support same sex
marriage and homo-sexuality.
Gnamiem Konan, the Ivorian Minister of Public Service, recently described gay marriage as “purely un-African.”
According to him, it is unreasonable for people of the same sex to think of marriage since it can not lead to procreation.
“Gay marriage is an aberration, it is a radical deviation from our moral and cultural values as a people,” he said.
