Contents:
- KENYA'S FIRST GAY POLIL NDIDATE REVEALS WHY HE QU RACE
- THE GAY KENYANS TRYG TO FIGHT HOMOPHOBIA OM THE SI
- FIRST OPENLY GAY POLICIAN SEEKS SEAT KENYA’S NEW SENATE
KENYA'S FIRST GAY POLIL NDIDATE REVEALS WHY HE QU RACE
It is the culmatn of a -long legal battle, and a victory for the LGBTQ+ a majory cisn, the urt led that the non-ernmental ordatn board was discrimatory and ged on the muny’s nstutnal right to associatn by refg to register any of six nam proposed by the muny’s reprentativ, among them the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn and the Gay and Lbian Human Rights ernment body had said that permtg registratn would ntravene sectns of the untry’s penal that crimalise gay and lbian unns, cludg a Brish lonial law layg down a 14-year sentence for anyone nvicted of homosexual acts. “There may be many people who are stgglg wh different kds of sexual sir but they have not gone to urt for the whole natn to regnise them, ” stat the church, which has a large followg Kenya’s urban Kenyan church lked the urt’s lg to the recent cisn by the Church of England to wele same-sex upl “unrervedly and joyfully” Kaluma, an MP allied to the opposn, vowed to table a bill parliament to prohib homosexualy and impose stiffer penalti, cludg life prison, for those engaged same sex lg will be a btersweet victory for the LGBTQ+ muny Kenya, whose members have been subject to harassment, excln and vlence. But David Kuria, forced to whdraw om electns Kenya, has already smashed barriers as the untry's first openly gay dismayed his supporters when he announced that he uld not fish the senate race bee of a lack of funds to ver logistics and his personal secury.
He had received threateng text msag sayg he would brg "a curse to the land", while he lost the battle, Kuria has won praise for movg the needle a untry which homosexualy is illegal and, the UN noted last year, "largely nsired to be taboo and repugnant to [the] cultural valu and moraly" 40-year-old was the first openly gay black person Ai to n for polil office outsi South Ai, acrdg to the Kaleidospe Tst, a non-prof anisatn fendg ternatnal lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) rights. "I had seen chang the way our people the villag view gay people.
For many people, gay people and gay rights are perceived though mediated terpretatn of policians and relig lears. A bet mister, Mos Wetangula, warned of a revolt if Kuria was elected, sayg an openly gay man should not "have an opportuny or privilege to lead a untry that is found on relig moraly" pennt ndidate was sent hostile text msag attemptg to blow him off urse.
THE GAY KENYANS TRYG TO FIGHT HOMOPHOBIA OM THE SI
"Naturally, beg a gay ndidate, any threat uld be explaed of as beg a homophobic attack, hence the need for add secury.
"Unr Kenyan law, homosexual acts are punishable by up to 14 years jail, though police say they would have to tch someone the act to prosecute. Denouncg gay people n be a vote wner.
"I thk the narrative of Kenya beg a homophobic society is taken out of ntext, " he said. Far too many people would show up even when we only wanted to hold small meetgs – that really do not look to me like a homophobic society.
FIRST OPENLY GAY POLICIAN SEEKS SEAT KENYA’S NEW SENATE
"Homosexualy is outlawed 36 Ain untri, wh many leadg policians scribg gay people as "unain".
"We're spired by his sire to enter public life as an LGBT person a untry where to be gay is to risk beg a social outst. Homosexualy punishable by ath some Ain natnsAttu ntrasts wh progrsive stanc on women, refugeA member of the South Ain Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr and Intersex muny Durban, South Ai. In 2012, David Kuria gaed global attentn by clarg that he is gay.
If elected, the 40-year-old would have bee the first Ain gay polician (outsi of South Ai) and Kenya’s first openly gay elected official—a feat a untry where gay sex remas a felony crime punishable by imprisonment.