From CNN. Story by Story by Kristen Holmes and Eugene Scott.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday lectured Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta about his country’s gay rights record.

“When you start treating people differently not because of any harm they are doing to anybody, but because they are different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode,” Obama said at a joint press conference with the Kenyan leader in Nairobi. “And bad things happen.”

Under Kenyan law, sexual activity between men is illegal and punishable with a maximum imprisonment of 14 years. Many Kenyan leaders had encouraged Obama not to discuss gay rights on his first trip to the country as president.

But Obama equated legalized discrimination of gays to legalized racism in America.

“And when a government gets in a habit of people treating people differently, those habits can spread,” Obama continued. “As an African American, I am painfully aware of what happens when people are treated differently under the law.”

Kenyatta, however, said that while the U.S. and Kenya share many common values and goals, gay rights is not one of them.

“The fact of the matter is Kenya and the U.S. share so many values: common love for democracy, entrepreneurship, value for families — these are some things that we share,” Kenyatta said. “But there are some things that we must admit we don’t share. Our culture, our societies don’t accept.

“It is very difficult for us to be able to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept,” Kenyatta continued. “This is why I repeatedly say for Kenyans today the (gay rights issue) is generally a non-issue. We want to focus on other areas.”

After that comment, a small amount of applause was heard.

Obama and Kenyatta addressed several other topics as well, including Kenya’s economy, their shared fight against terror in the region and Obama’s personal connection to Kenya, the country of his father’s birth.

Obama highlighted Kenya’s improving economy and increased focus on economic development. He announced that the two countries were expanding economic partnerships, including one that would make it easier for businesses to collaborate.

He also said that counterterrorism efforts between the U.S., Kenya and other African countries have greatly reduced the territory controlled by Islamic terrorist group al Shabaab.

 

Read more at CNN.