Kenyan MPs to consider anti-LGBTQ measures when Parliament reconvenes
Kenyan MPs are set to consider several anti-homosexuality proposals when Parliament reconvenes on Tuesday after a two-month break.
A group of more than 70 Kenyans from anti-LGBTQ lobby groups and religious organizations under the Kenya Christians Professional Forum and the Muslim Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya petitioned Parliament on Feb.
1 to probe what they describe as the proliferation of homosexuality in the country. The groups in their petition claim there have been “persistent, well-choreographed and well-funded” attempts by LGBTQ rights activists over the last decade to have anti-homosexuality laws declared unconstitutional. “They have filed numerous court cases and petitions in our courts,” reads the petition submitted to the National Assembly that Speaker Moses Wetang’ula heads. “This has not only been witnessed in Kenya but also many African countries including Uganda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and many others.” The petitioners consider discrimination based on “sexual orientation and gender identity” used to push for the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ community globally as “alien” terminologies not just to Africans but to “anyone with a moral fiber in their being.” They accuse the National Council on Administration of Justice, a judicial body of state and non-state members, of plotting to “revise our moral code” through amendments to the Penal Code that criminalize consensual same-sex relations.
The petitioners also raise a concern over last year’s controversial Supreme Court ruling that allowed the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission to register as a non-governmental organization, which they warn will have a serious impact on the family in Kenya if left unchallenged because it allows the legalization of LGBTQ people. “There have been concerted efforts from foreign non-state actors through financial lobbying to effect changes to our penal law to decriminalize such acts long criminalized such as homosexuality,” reads the
