President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia made headlines on Friday when he said that homosexuality is one of the three "biggest threats to human existence" and that homosexuality is "more deadly than all natural disasters put together."

The Gambian president, who came to power nearly 20 years ago in 1994, was speaking in his address to the United Nations General Assembly. Jammeh compared homosexuality with greed and obsession with world domination.

This was not the first time the Gambian leader has made public homophobic remarks. In May of 2008, Jammeh demanded that gays leave the country or else they will have their heads cut off. He told gays that they had 24 hours to leave the nation.

According to The Freedom Press, Jammeh said he would also not allow any gay people to serve in the Gambian military. "We will not encourage lesbianism and homosexuality in the military," he said. "It is a taboo in our armed forces. I will sack any soldier suspected of being a gay or lesbian in The Gambia.

According to the Associated Press, Jammeh introduced a highly controversial and ineffective treatment program for people with HIV/AIDS. He proposed that people stop using antiretroviral treatments and instead use herbal remedies, which simply do not work. When faced with criticism about the controversial treatment program, Jammeh told his critics to "go to hell."

Gambia is one of the many African nations where LGBT people face serious consequences and do not have equal rights. South Africa is the only nation on the continent where gay rights are codified in the constitution and the nation became the first in the world to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.