Sam Kisika

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Kenyan advocacy organization releases guidebook for young LGBTQ people

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An LGBTQ advocacy organization in Kenya has unveiled a sexual reproductive health and rights guidebook that targets young queer people in the country and provides them with information to help them come out.

The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which is behind the new guidebook, cites misinformation, stigma and homophobic discrimination among several obstacles that young LGBTQ people face when they publicly disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Thus, NGLHRC considers the 20-page booklet that also details the latest legal and policy frameworks on the topic an essential resource to help young queer people get knowledge and assistance in overcoming homophobia.    

“This resource is designed to support, educate and empower our diverse community in ensuring there is access to accurate and affirming information regarding sexual and reproductive health rights,” states the guidebook. 

The newly unveiled toolkit comes amid several government policy measures to protect school-age children from so-called same-sex practices that Section 162 of the penal code criminalizes.

The Education Ministry this year, for instance, plans to hire pastors and Imams in more than 32,000 public elementary and high schools to promote value-based education that includes fighting homosexuality and other practices deemed immoral. A working group that presented a report to President William Ruto last August made the recommendation. 

Education Minister Ezekiel Machogu in March 2023 confirmed to MPs the ministry’s decision to set up a Chaplains Committee led by Anglican Church Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit to stop what they have described as the infiltration of LGBTQ practices in schools. 

Machogu’s revelation followed the government’s crackdown on teenage books with gay content from abroad after an uproar from parents and religious leaders. 

The stiffer anti-homosexuality bill sponsored by an opposition MP Peter Kaluma, which awaits introduction in the National Assembly, would also prohibit the teaching of comprehensive sexuality education to school-age children in Kenya’s curriculum. The bill lists sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, transgender identity, sex reassignment and homosexuality among the subjects to which students should not be exposed in school. 

“A teacher, an instructor or any other person who teaches, instructs or discusses with a learner the subjects set out commits any offense and shall upon conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one million shillings ($6,163) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both,” reads the bill.      

The NGLHRC guidebook, however, cites the Bill of Rights in Kenya’s constitution, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Kenya has ratified as among the laws that protect people from any forms of discrimination. The advocacy organization instead calls for accessibility of queer-friendly educational materials, and family and community support to young people who identify as LGBTQ.  

“Bodily autonomy means my body is for me; my body is my own. It is about power, and it is about agency,” reads the guidebook. “It is about choice, and it is about dignity.” 

“Bodily autonomy is the foundation for gender equality, and above all, it is a fundamental right,” it adds.  

NGLHRC urges young queer people to be “open and honest” about their sexual orientation instead of hiding it, but only after they seriously consider the situation in which they find themselves. Coming out, according to the guidebook, should only happen after they discover their sexuality through self-identity, acceptance and connecting with others for empowerment and growth.  

It asks, for example, a young person to trust their instincts without bowing to pressure from friends and situations to come out openly.  

“Coming out is your decision and your decision alone. It is a lifelong process,” reads the guidebook. “Even if other people you know have come out or if you have come out to some but not others, no one has a say in when, how, or who you come out to?”

It notes there is no right way to come out, and challenges young LGBTQ people to be mindful of their privacy while sharing information with friends after coming out since one might be at risk of harm when other people find out.

“If you choose to come out, that is important to remember — and not to be discouraged by,” states the guidebook. “You will make new friends and family, meet new partners and join new companies throughout your life. If you choose to come out, then you will have to do it countless times.” 

The guidebook further advises young queer people about the importance of consent between partners in same-sex relations, and cautions them the law forbids consent for underage persons under 18 years. It also debunks myths surrounding homosexuality: Same-sex couples cannot transmit sexually transmitted infections, do not need to practice safe sex or get tested for STIs and all queer people are promiscuous and engage in risky sexual behaviors. The guidebook also addresses puberty, menstruation, hygiene, sexual and reproductive health needs and challenges, such as access to contraceptives for young LGBTQ individuals, queer parenting and centers to seek queer-friendly services in Kenya. 

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Prominent Kenyan government officials’ Meta accounts suspended over anti-gay posts

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Meta is cracking down on influential senior government officials in Kenya for sharing homophobic posts on their social media pages. 

The latest person against whom the U.S.-based social media company has cracked down is second lady Dorcas Rigathi, whose husband is Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. 

Her Facebook page with about 200,000 followers was deactivated last Friday over an anti-homosexuality post. It was restored on Monday.

An official in the Spouse of the Deputy President’s office who the Washington Blade contacted on Wednesday did not provide details about discussions with Meta that led to the account’s restoration with the same homophobic content. 

Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura also could not comment on Meta’s action, despite requesting the questions. President William Ruto during Kenya’s Independence Day celebration on Tuesday revealed he had spoken with the company and agreed to monetize content for creators.      

The temporary account deactivation for violating the company’s community standards was in response to a book launch event with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s daughter, Patience Rwabwogo, on Tuesday in Nairobi where the second lady, an evangelical pastor, stated that “LGBTQ does not have a place in Africa.” 

Meta’s community policies consider sexual orientation among the “protected characteristics,” along with religious affiliation, sex and gender identity that are categorized under hate speech when violated.   

Gachagua spoke in expressing her solidarity with Rwabwogo, who is also a pastor, and Ugandans against sanctions the U.S. has imposed against Kampala and several government officials over the enactment of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that is being challenged in court.

This is after Rwabwogo, who was launching her religious book, requested the gathering full of clerics for divine intervention over the sanctions as her husband, Odrek Rwabwogo, who is one of Museveni’s advisors, prepared to visit Washington to defend Uganda’s stance on LGBTQ rights and the looming expulsion from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S.  

“The reason why Uganda is being targeted over LGBTQ is because the enemy always wants to divide, conquer and isolate,” Rwabwogo said. “This worked very well in the time of colonialism and the church has to stand as one and say you are not going to divide and isolate us.”

Dorcas Rigathi stated “it is better not to have trade but have our integrity and our morality” and called for unity “as Africa” to prevail over LGBTQ issues. 

“We have been divided by imaginary boundaries and stories about Africa,” she said. “Who knows more about Africa than you? Who knows Africa and its greatness more than ourselves? The African problems will be solved by Africans.”

“I say that one (LGBTQ), I’m not there and it should not happen and it must never happen and we will continue saying that,” added Dorcas Rigathi. 

A day after her Meta deactivated her account, Dorcas Rigathi, who has been a fierce anti-homosexuality campaigner since the Kenyan Supreme Court’s controversial ruling in February that allowed the National Gay and Lesbian Rights Commission to register as an NGO, maintained she won’t be intimidated to change her stand on LGBTQ issues. 

“I stand for what God wants us to do,” she said. “Constitutionally it is a marriage between a man and a woman, not a man and a man, or woman and a woman. Our culture also says no to LGBTQ. And that is my conviction and that is what my God has said.”

Dorcas Rigathi, however, noted “if others want to do in their countries and if that is what their god says let them do, we respect them.” 

A group of Muslim religious leaders in Mombasa who condemned the West for what they describe as imposing homosexuality on Kenyans against their society’s values and the holy books, welcomed Dorcas Rigathi’s anti-LGBTQ position.

Dorcas Rigathi is the second top Kenyan official to have Meta deactivate their Facebook account over anti-LGBTQ posts.

Meta in March permanently disabled Former Nairobi City Gov. Mike Sonko’s Facebook account, which had nearly 2.5 million followers. The U.S. in the same month banned him and his family from traveling to the U.S. because of corruption allegations. 

Sonko in his anti-LGBTQ Facebook post had demanded the prohibition of homosexuality in Kenya “before it messes our young generation.” He was asked to apologize to the queer community before appealing to Meta for the restoration of his account but the defiant ex-governor vowed not to apologize.

The deactivation of Sonko’s account came barely a month after Instagram, which Meta owns, banned the account of Daddy Owen, a popular gospel singer, over homophobic comments.

Sonko last Friday sympathized with Dorcas Rigathi after Meta disabled her account.

“Let’s embrace our African culture by appreciating marriage and love between man and woman, not same-sex marriage or sex,” he said, recalling how he also lost his official account for expressing “my concerns against those pushing for recognition of LGBTQ rights in Kenya.” 

Sonko opined Kenya is a “God-fearing country” that won’t be “Sodom and Gomorrah for even a day.” 

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UNAIDS: Anti-LGBTQ laws in Africa could prompt spike in HIV cases 

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The U.N body on the HIV pandemic has raised concerns over a spike in the disease among gay and transgender people in eastern and southern Africa due to harsh anti-homosexuality laws.

The UNAIDS in its latest 2023 Global AIDS Update report released last month notes laws criminalizing consensual same-sex relations have remained a major obstacle in preventing and treating HIV among the LGBTQ community. These statutes have been enacted in the region the disease has impacted the most and in a part of Africa that has seen significant progress in reducing the number of new HIV infections. 

New HIV infections have dropped by 57 percent and AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 58 percent among heterosexual people since 2010. 

“HIV incidence has reduced substantially by 73 percent since 2010 among adult men aged 15–49 years, but it is not declining among gay men and other men who have sex with men,” reads the 196-page UNAIDS report. 

HIV prevalence in 2022 around the world was 11 times higher among gay men aged 15-49 years, compared to heterosexual men within the same age bracket and 14 times higher among trans people. 

The report reveals the HIV prevalence among gay men stands at 12.9 percent and 42.8 percent for trans persons in 21 of 24 surveyed countries in eastern and southern Africa where a total of 20.8 million people in live with the virus. 

The disease remains rife among gay men and trans people and efforts to combat it among the aforementioned population continues to lag because of stigma and discrimination in accessing equitable HIV care from anti-homosexuality laws in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and in other countries.   

A total of 67 countries in the world criminalize homosexuality, with nearly half of them being in Africa. Twenty countries criminalize trans people.

A recent survey in 10 sub-Saharan African countries showed HIV prevalence among gay men was five times higher in countries that criminalize consensual same-sex relationships compared Rwanda and South Africa and other nations that don’t. 

The survey also notes HIV prevalence was 12 times higher in countries that use anti-homosexuality laws to prosecute gay men, compared to nations without such prosecutions. It also notes HIV prevalence was more than nine times higher in countries that curtail the operations of pro-LGBTQ civil society organizations, compared to nations that do not obstruct them. 

UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima noted HIV/AIDS killed one person every minute last year. She also called for stronger collaboration and equality to end the disease by 2030. 

“HIV responses succeed when they are anchored in strong political leadership to follow the evidence, tackle the inequalities holding back progress, enable communities and civil society organizations in their vital roles in the response and ensure sufficient and sustainable funding,” she said.    

The UNAIDS report points out gay men and trans people are left out of HIV treatment programs in eastern and southern Africa, where coverage among adult women stands at 86 percent and men at 78 percent. 

The neglect that punitive laws and police harassment exacerbates has, in turn, led to HIV prevention gaps that increase the risk of transmission and limit access to services and sabotages efforts to decrease the impact of the virus among the group. 

Uganda this year enacted the Anti-Homosexuality Act with a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality” and severe punishment for organizations the government claims promote homosexuality. A similar punitive bill is set to be introduced in Kenya’s Parliament. 

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Act in May saw a U.S.-funded HIV treatment clinic in Kampala that normally sees dozens of patients a day almost deserted because clients, many of them gay, feared arrest.

“Removal or reform of these laws in line with public health evidence would boost the HIV response and the human rights of people from marginalized populations, particularly, key populations who continue to have much higher HIV prevalence than the general population,” the UNAIDS report states.

In 2022, a total of $9.8 billion meant for universal HIV financing in eastern and southern Africa was spent. Thirty-nine percent of this money was domestic funding, while the rest came from the Global Fund, UNAIDS, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other international donor organizations. Botswana, Kenya and South Africa contributed the largest share of donor funding. 

UNAIDS asks countries to use disaggregated data to effectively identify populations to ensure the LGBTQ community and other key groups are not left out of HIV care since many countries lack programs and size estimates. UNAIDS also requests stronger action against stigma and discrimination at healthcare facilities in order to increase access and use of HIV testing and treatment services by all people, regardless of their sexual orientation.

“Failure to protect people from key populations against HIV will prolong the pandemic indefinitely at great cost to the affected communities and societies,” warns UNAIDS. 

UNAIDS notes Singapore and other countries last year repealed laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations and trans people and introduced statutes that protect gender identity. UNAIDS, nevertheless, in its report raised concerns over an increase in homophobia and transphobia in countries that prompt the introduction of anti-homosexuality laws.

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Kenya bill seeks to ban gays from having children via surrogate

A bill that is currently before Kenyan lawmakers would prohibit gays and lesbians from using surrogate mothers to have children.

The proposed law — dubbed the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, 2019, passed last November by the National Assembly — seeks to assist individuals, including intersex people or couples unable to bear children due to infertility to procure surrogate mothers.

To lock out gays and lesbians, the MPs amended the bill by replacing “husband and wife” to “couple” under Kenyan law, which refers to a male and a female who are in an association that may be recognized as a marriage.

“Of the many amendments that have been carried, this one is the best. This is so that we be specific that in Kenya, we do not recognize marriages between people of the same gender,” MP David Ole Sankok stated during the debate in the National Assembly.  

Any gay or lesbian found guilty of using a surrogate mother to have a child risks a fine not exceeding Sh5 million ($50,000) or a jail term of not more than five years or both. The bill would also require a qualified medical doctor to certify that an individual is infertile before proceeding to find a surrogate mother.

This requirement is not only a big blow to thousands of gays and lesbians in Kenya but also hundreds of surrogate mothers like Mary and Rebecca in Nairobi who, through the Find Surrogate Mother public website, carry pregnancies for all couples including heterosexuals, gays, lesbians, single women and single men who want to have children.

The proposed law, which is the first of its kind in Kenya, also criminalizes engaging in surrogacy to make money. This means surrogate mothers will no longer carry pregnancies for any individual or couple whose infertility is not proved by a doctor.

Currently, the overall cost of surrogacy in Kenya is estimated at Sh4.5 million ($45,000).

“A person who contravenes the provisions of this section commits an offense and shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million ($50,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both,” reads Clause 23 of the bill.

A special directorate under the Health Ministry would oversee surrogacy activities in the country. The bill requires a surrogate mother to be over 21 years old with at least one child.

The new law adds to other punitive laws against LGBTQ rights in the country.

The Kenyan Penal Code under Sections 162 and 165 criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations viewed as “acts of indecency or unnatural offenses.” The Penal Code also forbids gays and lesbians from adopting children.  

The passing of the bill in November occurred barely four months after U.S. Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten broke the news of welcoming their twins to the world. 

Buttigieg via a tweet said, “Chasten and I are beyond thankful for all the kind wishes since first sharing the news that we’re becoming parents. We are delighted to welcome Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg to our family.”

It remains unclear whether the couple had their babies via surrogate or if they adopted them.

Kenya, just like most African countries, has refused to recognize the rights of the LGBTQ community despite pressure from the group and Western countries.     

For instance, in 2015 President Uhuru Kenyatta during a joint press conference with the then-U.S. President Obama at the State House in Nairobi flatly rejected his visitor’s demand for the protection and promotion of gay and lesbian rights in the country.

Kenyatta insisted that though Kenya “shares a lot with the U.S., gay rights were not among them.” Homosexuality is considered both ungodly and against African culture on the continent.  

In July 2021, a coalition of 27 global companies like Microsoft, Google, Barclays, Standard Chartered, IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, American Express and Burberry demanded Kenya to fully recognize the rights of gays and lesbians for more billions of Kenyan shillings to be injected into the economy.

The global firms in a report dubbed “The Economic Case for LGBT+ Inclusion in Kenya” warned that the country loses between $65 million and $143 million annually because its discriminative environment was keeping away some tourists. Still, Kenya remained unbowed.   

Several rights groups like the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Coalition and UNAIDS has criticized the continued enactment of laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

The National Assembly’s Health Committee, the sponsor of the surrogacy law, collected views from numerous key stakeholders in the health sector like the Intersex Persons Society of Kenya which has a population of 1,524 in Kenya as per the 2019 Census. However, the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, (GALCK), was notably sidelined in the committee’s public hearings.

The Kenyan Senate is expected to debate the bill once it reconvenes on Feb. 8. The president would sign it if it passes.