In a major blow to LGBT advocates, Kenya’s High Court said colonial-era laws outlawing gay sex should stay in place.
Advocates have long argued that the punishment — established by the British 89 years ago and last amended in 1967, four years after Kenya gained independence — contradicts the liberties laid out in Kenya’s modern constitution, widely considered to be one of the more progressive set of laws on the continent.
The constitution, which was ratified in 2010, guarantees all citizens the rights to dignity and equality, and protects them from discrimination based on various factors like their sex, health status, or culture. The arguments made in favor of upholding the penal codes were largely focused on religion. Charles Kanjama, an attorney who regularly argues against LGBT initiatives, said throughout the trial that a country in which 80% of its citizens are Christian would not embrace homosexuality. He also recycled anti-gay rhetoric while making his case, claiming that LGBT people were all victims of abuse, that they would upend the nuclear family structure, and that homosexuality is un-African.
But Justice Aburili, one of the three judges who presided over the case, noted in Friday’s ruling that while the decisions on protections for LGBT people in other countries, particularly other Commonwealth nations, were relevant, they ultimately should not interfere with Kenya’s laws.Tamerra Griffin is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based Nairobi, Kenya.
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