What Is Everyday Gay and Lbian Life Like Kenya? | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• KENYAN URT UPHOLDS LAW MAKG GAY SEX ILLEGAL
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• KENYA GAY TRAVEL
• HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS KENYA
• GAY TRAVEL KENYA
• WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• WHAT IS EVERYDAY GAY AND LBIAN LIFE LIKE KENYA?
• KILLG OF LGBTQ+ ACTIVIST PROMPTS OUTCRY OVER ANTI-GAY ATTACKS KENYA
• GAY REFUGE KENYA REPORT REPEATED ATTACKS OM LOLS
• KENYAN GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST IS KILLED
• ‘THE SKY DON’T LLAPSE.’ A FILMMAKER EXPLOR GAY LIFE KENYA.

KENYAN URT UPHOLDS LAW MAKG GAY SEX ILLEGAL

Kenya’s Penal Co, which crimalis same-sex activy, will rema tact followg a High Court lg which rejected a petn llg for the crimalisatn of homosexualy the untry. The Nairobi lg followed two petns filed 2016 by three Kenyan LGBT anisatns: the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn, the Gay and Lbian Coaln of Kenya and Nyanza, Rift Valley and Wtern Kenya Network.

Before the lg, Wagu Gaho, a human rights lawyer at the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn (NGLHRC), had said: “We are prepared for to be a protracted stggle. Neighborg Mozambique removed anti-gay laws 2015, while São Tomé and Cape Ver have also abolished laws crimalizg gay relatnships.

The ban was imposed by the Kenya Film Classifitn Board, which said the film was “rtricted due to s homosexual theme and clear tent to promote lbianism Kenya, ntrary to the law. In allowg the film to be screened to willg adults, the judge said that Kenya is not a weak society whose morals would be weakened by watchg a gay-themed movie. Image source, Getty ImagIn the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ muny.

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

Gee Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab".

"We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni May.

The Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law. Though ls harsh than Uganda's new law, the Promotn of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Fay Valu Bill propos a three-year prison sentence for anyone who intifi as LGBTQ and a 10-year sentence for anyone who promot homosexualy. "The bill will propose a total ban on what the Wt lls sex-reassignment prcriptns and procr, and prohib all activi that promote homosexualy, terms of...

KENYA GAY TRAVEL

Gay sex is already illegal Kenya, but the ernment n also be tolerant of gay people - for example, has given asylum to people om other Ain untri, cludg Uganda, who faced persecutn their home untri bee of their sexual orientatn.

HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Many Kenyans believe that gay rights are agast their relign - whether Christian or MlimAlthough the meetg Uganda was billed as an attempt to protect the "sovereignty" of Ain stat, was actually -sponsored by an Amerin Christian right-wg anisatn, Fay Watch Internatnal (FWI) Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian prit the Anglin Church and an amic at Boston Universy the US, says Ain untri are beg targeted by FWI and siar US-based anisatns, and that the impact of s lobbyg has been "horrible and humane" parts of Ai, fuellg what he lls "ant homophobia".

"It is one thg to say: 'I don't agree wh you beg gay', but we didn't have the ant one, where policians now are sayg: 'You go to jail for life, you go to jail for talkg about beg gay, you go to jail bee you're livg wh your fellow woman', " Dr Kaoma says. She c a Uned Natns Populatn Fund (UNFPA) manual for out-of-school youths east and southern Ai, sayg promot homosexualy and is too explic.

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS KENYA

"It sensis children to sex, " she Slater also quot om the manual, cludg l which say that facilators of lsons should have "a ntral, acceptg attu towards homosexualy". Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Kamala Harris has been a vol supporter of LGBTQ rightsUS Vice-Print Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three Ain untri - Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia - has drawn cricism over her support for LGBTQ Ghana, a speech llg for "all people be treated equally" she appeared to cricise a bill before the untry's parliament which crimalis advocy for gay rights and propos jail terms for those that intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, or untry's Speaker Alban Bagb later lled her remarks "unmocratic" and urged lawmakers not to be "timidated by any person" Tanzania, a former mister spoke agast US support for LGBTQ rights ahead of the vis and Zambia some opposn policians have threatened to hold is homosexualy still outlawed? In the same month, the high urt Barbados stck out laws that crimalised gay July last year, the urts Antigua and Barbuda clared a law crimalisg same-sex acts between nsentg adults Febary 2021, Angola's Print Joao Louren signed to law a revised penal to allow same-sex relatnships and ban discrimatn on the basis of sexual 2020, Gabon reversed a law that had crimalised homosexualy and ma gay sex punishable wh six months prison and a large fe.

Mozambique and the Seychell have also scrapped anti-homosexualy laws recent there are untri where existg laws outlawg homosexualy have been tightened, cludg Nigeria and 's parliament recently passed a law to crack down on homosexual activi, promptg wispread source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Campaign agast LGBTQ rights some Ain untri has tensified recent weeksAnd some untri, efforts to get the laws removed have May 2019, the high urt Kenya upheld laws crimalisg homosexual acts. And many plac, breakg the laws uld be punishable by long prison of the 53 untri the Commonwealth - a loose associatn of untri most of them former Brish loni - 29 have laws that crimalise homosexualy. Although the origal Brish laws applied only to men, untri that crimalise homosexualy today also have penalti for women who have sex wh Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (Ilga) monors the progrs of laws relatg to homosexualy around the says the ath penalty is the legally prcribed punishment for same-sex sexual acts Bnei, Iran, Mrania, Sdi Arabia, Yemen and some northern stat of five untri - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, and the Uned Arab Emirat - there is no legal clary and the ath penalty uld be source, AFPImage ptn, An Indian gay rights activist protts agast a urt lg 2013 upholdg a law which crimalis gay repealed the ath penalty for nsensual same-sex sexual acts observers note that the risk of prosecutn some plac is mimal.

GAY TRAVEL KENYA

For example, a 2017 report on Jamai by the UK Home Office said that Jamai was regard as a homophobic society, but that the "thori do not actively seek to prosecute LGBT persons". Activist groups say the abily of lbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) anisatns to rry out advocy work is beg rtricted. The Kenyan supreme urt recently stck down a ernment cisn to ban the registratn of an LGBTIQ+ muny rights anisatn, sparkg new homophobic rhetoric the untry.

The Kenyan supreme urt led on 24 Febary 2023 that the ernment was wrong to ban the LGBTIQ+ muny om registerg the Natnal Gay & Lbian Human Rights Commissn. Generally, beg gay is still largely a taboo subject, lbianism doubly so, and many lols take the attu that 's a foreign, un-Ain practice. Neverthels, bee of this, most lols the tourism dtry do accept that non-Ain visors may be gay, so you'll receive no discrimatn.

Although homosexualy is illegal Kenya, tourists are exempt and n eely explore the untry wh our hand-picked service provirs. In the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab" I met Mr Kaluma - a member of veteran Kenyan opposn polician Raila Odga's Orange Democratic Movement - he was stg behd his sk at his office the pal Nairobi, proof-readg and makg rrectns to a bill that he tends to table parliament soon. "We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law.

WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

Gay paras, drag shows, wearg the lours, the flags, the emblems of the LGBTQ group, " Mr Kaluma sex is already illegal Kenya, but the ernment n also be tolerant of gay people - for example, has given asylum to people om other Ain untri, cludg Uganda, who faced persecutn their home untri bee of their sexual Kaluma tells me he wants their asylum to be revoked, and for them to leave a small, hidn church set up to offer fort and support to LGBTQ people central Nairobi, the female pastor says Mr Kaluma's bill is g "a lot of panic, anxiety, fear". Although the meetg Uganda was billed as an attempt to protect the "sovereignty" of Ain stat, was actually -sponsored by an Amerin Christian right-wg anisatn, Fay Watch Internatnal (FWI) Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian prit the Anglin Church and an amic at Boston Universy the US, says Ain untri are beg targeted by FWI and siar US-based anisatns, and that the impact of s lobbyg has been "horrible and humane" parts of Ai, fuellg what he lls "ant homophobia". "It is one thg to say: 'I don't agree wh you beg gay', but we didn't have the ant one, where policians now are sayg: 'You go to jail for life, you go to jail for talkg about beg gay, you go to jail bee you're livg wh your fellow woman', " Dr Kaoma 's Mormon founr Sharon Slater ni that the group promot anti-gay laws Ai.

WHAT IS EVERYDAY GAY AND LBIAN LIFE LIKE KENYA?

"Fay Watch oppos legislatn that penalis a person for havg sexual attractns or for how they intify, " she says an emailed rponse to the Slater addrsed Ain lawmakers, clerics and mpaigners at their fom Uganda's laki cy of Entebbe March, and later appeared a group photo wh Print Meveni at his official more than 20 years, Mrs Slater has lobbied ernments on what she lls "fay valu" and has ma her missn to mpaign agast children and young people beg given Comprehensive Sexualy Edutn (CSE), a curriculum-based sex tn programme champned by the Uned Natns and other c a Uned Natns Populatn Fund (UNFPA) manual for out-of-school youths east and southern Ai, sayg promot homosexualy and is too explic. "It sensis children to sex, " she Slater also quot om the manual, cludg l which say that facilators of lsons should have "a ntral, acceptg attu towards homosexualy" I ntact Maria Bakaroudis, UNFPA's CSE specialist for east and southern Ai, for ment, she says she is not keen to talk about the "opposn", as she refers to adds that the manual is only a guile, and each untry n tailor to su their Bakaroudis fends CSE, sayg provis "life-savg rmatn" to curb high rat of untend pregnanci, HIV, and sexually transmted diseas. In our worldwi search for Out & Around: Stori om a Not-So-Straight Journey, we travelled to Kenya to explore everyday life for gays and November 2010 the Kenyan prime mister nmned homosexualy, sayg, "If found, the homosexuals should be arrted and taken to relevant thori.

" Unr ternatnal prsure, he retracted his statements days later, sayg he only meant that same-sex marriag are illegal Kenyan penal crimaliz homosexual behavr wh up to 14 years imprisonment. A 2007 study found that 96 percent of the Kenyan populatn oppos we asked: what is gay and lbian life actually like for the average Kenyan livg Nairobi? We first meet wh Akyi Ocholla, a lbian om Nairobi who works for Mory Women Actn and is a member of the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Associatn.

"To get a gay male perspective, we met wh Solomon Wambua, Programs Officer of the Gay and Lbian Coaln of Kenya (GALCK), the untry's largt LGBT anizatn. " As of today, Solomon's extend fay still do not know about his sexual Solomon choos to work at GALCK spe his own ncern about whether or not he n fd employment aga after associatg wh a gay anizatn. "When I asked Solomon about the number of gays rcerated due to this penal , he says, "Up to date, no se has been nvicted of the penal leadg to actual rceratn.

KILLG OF LGBTQ+ ACTIVIST PROMPTS OUTCRY OVER ANTI-GAY ATTACKS KENYA

While there are no pri paras or openly gay clubs, Solomon aniz muny events such as World AIDS Day and the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia.

The GALCK office remas open as a safe place for people to e read about gay topics, ga support om unselors, and hang out. Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)Censorship✖ State-enforcedNon-bary genr regnn✖ Intersex onlyDiscrimatn✖ Illegal some ntextsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsConversn Therapy✖ Not banned. Public OpnRearch atttus towards LGBTQ+ issu Kenya have intified a strong opposn to LGBTQ+ rights, reflectg unrlyg homophobic sentiments.

Current statSce Aug 1, 1930Illegal (imprisonment as punishment) Article 162, 163 and 165 prohibs homosexualy and offenr is punishable by up to 21 years prison wh hard labor and fSame-sex marriage Kenya?

GAY REFUGE KENYA REPORT REPEATED ATTACKS OM LOLS

It also requir the acmodatn of tersex children child protectn centers and other protectnsAs homosexualy is currently illegal, discrimatn agast LGBT persons are employment discrimatn Kenya? Current statSce Jan 1, 1941Illegal The Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn stat that homosexuals are not allowed to serve the Kenya Defence Forc, however, 's unclear if this is a wrten law and if so, when this law was 't Ask, Don't TellNo laws rtrictg or crimalizg lgbt donatns by MSMs Kenya? Attempts to overturn Brish lonial-era laws banng homosexualy Kenya have proven unsuccsful, and gay sex remas a punishable crime wh penalti that clu imprisonment of up to 14 years.

KENYAN GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST IS KILLED

The Penal Co crimaliz homosexual behavr and attempted homosexual behavr between men, which is referred to as “rnal knowledge agast the orr of nature”.

‘THE SKY DON’T LLAPSE.’ A FILMMAKER EXPLOR GAY LIFE KENYA.

By David Kuria Foundg Director, Gay and Lbian Coaln Kenya (GALCK) Augt 2012 Here is update on the LGBT suatn Kenya for our LGBT muny recent years. The most vigoro anizatn is Gays and Lbians Coaln of Kenya (GALCK) found 2004 which leads the stggle for gay Kenyans everywhere.

Compiled by Richard Ammon Febary 2012 Introductn A gay Ugandan uple fled to Uganda, thoands of kilometers om home wh ltle more than the cloth on their backs. Kenya’s Gay Unrground "Homosexualy is prohibed unr our untry’s laws and is morally unacceptable our society, " immigratn spokman Frank Kwga explaed.