#KenyansMessageToObama is leave the gay talk at home. While many Kenyans are very excited for President Barack Obama to visit the land of his father, it is not without criticism. Polls show Obama will be welcomed with widespread support:

“I think this is a guy who really appreciates his roots,” said one resident of the capital city.

“Because he is our brother, we welcome him,” Peter, from Nairobi, said.

Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the nation. He will address a crowd of up to 300,000 on Sunday, and one man has even drafted a letter to Obama to encourage him to come run for president in Kenya after his term in America is up:

A popular African saying: Clean house only because visitors are coming. Roads and parks are getting spruced up for Obama’s visit. African nations are notoriously corrupt, and people notice when money is spent to improve common areas. Public spaces are only now getting attention because of the visit. Some say he should visit more often.

Some feel the security risk is too great – as Nairobi is no stranger to Al-Shabob, but that’s nothing that $100 million dollars can’t take care of, and a week of closed roads and shuttered businesses.

Some feel he is legitimizing the government of a criminal – the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, was recently indicted for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. The charges were dropped in December 2014, due to lack of evidence (the Kenyan government refused to cooperate; witnesses decided they’d rather live than be disappeared; you know, the normal persuasive techniques). Kenyatta’s actions in solidifying his power was the basis for his crimes against humanities indictment. His administration put down post-election violence in a questionable manner: 1,300 people were killed.

But the most vocal criticism surrounds the gay state of America and Obama’s potential attempt to push the gay agenda in Africa. President Kenyatta has said any talk of Obama advocating for gay rights while in Kenya is a “non-issue.” Africa takes its gay sex seriously though – homosexual relations are illegal in Kenya (along with 37 other African countries) and carry a 14 year prison sentence. Seven hundred evangelical pastors, who lead over 38,000 churches and 10 million Kenyan Christians, led by Mark Kariuki, wrote President Obama a letter:

“We do not want him to come and talk on homosexuality in Kenya or push us to accepting that which is against our faith and culture,” Kariuki said.

Kariuki welcomes the president’s visit but says leave “the gay talk” in America.

“Let him talk about development; let him talk about cooperation; let him talk about the long-time relationship Kenya has had with America,” he said. “But about our beliefs and culture– keep off!”

Obama has used previous trips to Africa to urge governments to respect gay rights. Kariuki said the open letter is a warning to the president.

“The family is the strength of a nation. If the family is destroyed, then the nation is destroyed,” he said. “So we don’t want to open doors for our nation to be destroyed!”

Twitter is alive with an anti-gay shoutout to the American president and it’s not the sentiment behind #lovewins:

#KenyansMessageToObama
Dont try to ruin other nations. Keep your evil ideas to yourself. There is enough trouble as it is in America.

— Gabriel Clemmons (@GabeC_Baptist) July 23, 2015

#lovewins #KenyansMessageToObama Gays and Kenya: When in Rome, Obama, 'Respect the Romans' (The Star, Kenya) http://t.co/tUipC6Aduu

— William Kern (@WillKernWMU) July 23, 2015

https://twitter.com/MickORichards/status/624028687000735748

To further show Kenya’s disdain for Obama’s gay rights agenda, a group of up to 5,000 men and women plan to protest if Obama mentions anything about homosexuality. They are prostitutes, and they will be nude. The nudity is intended to show Obama the difference between a man and a woman, and also, homosexuality intrudes upon the women’s customer base.  

“‘The procession will be carried out by approximately 5,000 totally naked men and women to protest Obama’s open and aggressive support for homosexuality,’ said Republican Liberty Party leader Vincent Kidala. … ‘In fact – our party has a network of prostitutes in Nairobi, Nakuru and other counties. That is where we shall get these people – whose number we expect to increase,’ he told The Star. … He said the prostitutes agreed to participate free of charge since if homosexuality is legalized – they will lose customers.”

It will be interesting to see if Obama respects his hosts and sticks to talking about economic development. He’s always struck me as the kind of guy who doesn’t know, or care, when he’s wearing out his welcome.