Cameroon opposes French LGBTQ ambassador’s visit
The government of Cameroon is attempting to bar France’s ambassador for LGBTQ rights, Jean-Marc Berthon, from visiting the country to organize a conference on gender and sexual identity. The forum’s topic of homosexuality “qualified as a crime of common law” in Cameroon, Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella said in a statement.
In an interview with RT, Cameroonian journalist and human rights activist Njodzeka Dabhatu said that LGBTQ issues concern the cultural heritage and traditions of the Central African country, warning that there could be diplomatic fallout if France continues to challenge these values.
Cameroon “has no problem dealing with other countries as long as” they do not “interfere” in its internal affairs, he said. However, meddling in “issues protected by Cameroon's constitution,” particularly homosexuality, which is criminalized, will force the country to sever “ties with France,” Dabhatu noted.
Cameroonians who spoke to RT said they were “very glad” that the government has taken steps to stop the LGBTQ event.
“It is a very very horrible phenomenon... And it’s not part of our culture,” a local said, adding that no country should “impose its authority upon another sovereign country.”
“I am so happy with the stance that the Cameroon government has taken against this French declaration of LGBT. We can do without the French,” another resident stated.
Berthon planned to travel to Cameroon from June 27 to July 1 for the conference, which was to be hosted by the French Institute in the capital, Yaounde.
