Is Kenya about to follow Uganda wh strict anti-gay legislatn?

GENEVA (22 March 2023) – UN High Commissner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednday said the adoptn Uganda of dranian new legislatn targetg lbian, gay and bisexual people was vastatg and eply disturbg, and lled on Print Yoweri Meveni not to promulgate to law. “The passg of this discrimatory bill – probably among the worst of s kd the world – is a eply troublg velopment,” said the High Commissner. * gay offices in uganda *

Media ptn, Watch: Cheers and applse as Uganda pass anti-gay billPeople who intify as gay Uganda risk life prison after parliament passed a new bill to crack down on homosexual activi. People are receivg lls that 'if you don't give me money, I will report that you are gay, '" they bill is one of the tought piec of anti-gay legislatn Ai. Homosexual acts are already illegal Uganda but this bill troduc many new crimal well as makg merely intifyg as gay illegal for the first time, iends, fay and members of the muny would have a duty to report dividuals same-sex relatnships to the was passed wh wispread support Uganda's parliament on Tuday eveng.

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HIV/AIDS disproportnately affects gay and bisexual men around the world; however, ltle is known about this populatn sub-Saharan Ai. We nducted a rponnt-driven samplg survey of gay and bisexual men Kampala, Uganda (N = 224). Overall, 61% reported themselv as "gay" and 39% as … * gay offices in uganda *

The bill's backers say they are tryg to protect children but Ms Byagaba said: "Whether you're heterosexual or homosexual, the ernment and parliament should troduce laws, or at least implement existg laws that protect all children - boys, girls om filement.

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The fal versn has yet to be officially published but elements discsed parliament clu: A person who is nvicted of groomg or traffickg children for purpos of engagg them homosexual activi fac life prisonIndividuals or stutns which support or fund LGBT rights' activi or anisatns, or publish, broadst and distribute pro-gay media material and lerature, also face prosecutn and imprisonmentMedia groups, journalists and publishers face prosecutn and imprisonment for publishg, broadstg, distributn of any ntent that advot for gay rights or "promot homosexualy"Death penalty for what is scribed as "aggravated homosexualy", that is sexual abe of a child, a person wh disabily or vulnerable people, or s where a victim of homosexual asslt is fected wh a life-long illnsProperty owners also face risk of beg jailed if their premis are ed as a "brothel" for homosexual acts or any other sexual mori rights' activiA small group of Ugandan MPs on a mtee sctisg the bill disagreed wh s premise. They argue the offenc seeks to crimalise are already vered the untry's Penal Co 2014, Uganda's nstutnal urt nullified another act which had toughened laws agast the LGBT clud makg illegal to promote and fund LGBT groups and activi, as well as reeratg that homosexual acts should be punished by life imprisonment, and was wily nmned by Wtern urt led that the legislatn be revoked bee had been passed by parliament whout the required quom.

A member of the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr (LGBT) seen reactg after Kenya's High Court led to uphold the Brish-era penal that crimalis gay sex (Photo: 24 May 2019)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. 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".

It fuels some kd of vlence that now people are planng but holdg back on, " she tells 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 's Mormon founr Sharon Slater ni that the group promot anti-gay laws Ai.

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"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 's LGBTQ muny has been wagg a long-nng mpaign to mand equal rightsAlthough Mr Kaluma attend the meetg Uganda -sponsored by FWI, he ni workg wh the group on his bill, which he says will propose a ban on teachg CSE sayg is part of the "LGBTQ agenda".

The gatherg was meant to be a celebratn, but the anisers had also been reful to take attendg the gay pri party the Kenyan port of Mombasa last week arrived on and twos, most drs, whout flags or regalia.

Mombasa has many nservative Christians and Mlims and pollg suggts the vast majory of Kenyans nsir homosexualy to be taboo, even if tolerance is creepg gay muny also liv fear of appallg vlence.

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Many fear such attacks may crease after neighbourg Uganda recently passed one of the world’s strictt anti-gay laws, and some policians Kenya now want to do the the party, therefore, atten only changed to lourful stum once they joed the baret si, but some guts and dignari clearly still wanted to distance themselv om the proceedgs. “Let me make clear to you that I am not a gay person and that is why you see me seated, separate om those people, ” an awkward-lookg Catholic clergyman told of the journalists themselv also looked unfortable. ” the 24-year-old were ed moured to be armed police and telligence officers the crowd: tough-lookg men civilian cloth, perhaps gatherg rmatn, but also ready to protect the crowd if while gay sex remas illegal the East Ain natn unr laws datg back to the lonial era, the gatherg had the tac acceptance of the ernment and police.

Mombasa held the event last week as Kenya’s gay muny has recently won judicial victori, yet is also still persecuted and unr threat om new anti-gay legislatn.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN KAMPALA, UGANDA

Followg Uganda’s adoptn of strict anti-gay legislatn, there are siar mov afoot Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan, as part of a broad anti-LGBT legislative drive across East Ai.

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It will be an act of gross cency to take part a gay para or public same-sex displays of amoro backg such legislatn across the regn ame as cultural battle to save Ain valu and sovereignty, which they say are unr asslt by Wtern prsure to pulate on gay rights. ‘A hateful piece of legislatn’Peter Kaluma, a parliamentarian the natnal assembly behd the bill, told the Telegraph the LGBT muny was engrossed a “filthy perversn” fuelled by Wtern Kaluma, a legal scholar, said his proposal aimed to “prohib homosexualy and same sex marriage and related activi” and proscribe “activi that seek to advance, promote or fund homosexualy and unnatural sexual acts” bill was part of a “global ph back agast the LGBTQ movement even the USA and most Wtern European untri, ” he bill has provoked ep unease among the untry’s gay and lbian muny. “It is a hateful piece of legislatn that will tly make the liv of queer Kenyans unbearable if passed, ” Ante Atieno of the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn mpaign group said last is also at odds wh a supreme urt lg earlier this year that the ernment was wrong to block a gay rights anisatn om registerg as an NGO.

Ismail Bahati, the executive director of Pema Kenya, a lol gay and lbian lobby group, said the climate was an uneasy mixture of vlent hostily and risg tolerance. “We are memoratg people who have died the stggle…” he said, addg that gays and lbians “have been attacked markets, b and public plac for exprsg themselv.

A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED

”Some relig lears were creasgly willg to listen to the gay and lbian muny, as shown by the attendance of the Catholic cleric, he said, even though the prit appeared unfortable. Partly the engagement was pragmatic, as the ernment reached out as part of efforts to tackle at the party, cludg Mike, were ls said the Ugandan legislatn had st a cloud over gay life Kenya, as had the high-profile murr January of Edw Chiloba, a gay rights activist who was killed by a former boyiend. KAMPALA, Uganda — Members of Uganda’s LGBTQ muny are shock and fear beg arrted after Parliament passed a measure that would make a crime to intify as gay and impose tough sentenc that clu the ath penalty certa s, an activist said “Anti-Homosexualy Bill, 2023” was passed wh a near-unanimo majory by lawmakers the east Ain untry, where anti-gay sentiment ns ep.

Ronald Kabuubi / APThe legislatn will next be sent to Print Yoweri Meveni, who has repeatedly nounced homosexualy, to be signed to Mugisha, one of a few Ugandans who live openly as gay, told Rters he was sred the measure would trigger “mass arrts of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer persons and mob vlence toward LGBTQ muni. There’s gog to be a lot of trma and s of mental health that will lead to a lot of suici, ” he relatns were already illegal Uganda, but supporters of the new law say is need to punish a broar array of LGBTQ activi, which they say threaten tradnal valu the nservative and relig East Ain measure clus steep sentenc that clu ath for “aggravated homosexualy” and life prison for same-sex relatns.

Uganda's new anti-gay law lls for life prison for those who are nvicted : NPR

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

UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY