For Kenya’s lesbians and gays, a supreme court ruling allowing the rights body that represents their interests to register as a non-governmental organization (NGO) has turned out to be a mixed blessing.
February’s ruling in favor of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) reversed a ban imposed on it by the national board that regulates NGOs.
It was welcomed by the organization as a minor affirmation of LGBTQ Kenyans’ place in society.
However, in a country where same-sex acts remain punishable by up to 14 years in prison, the ruling has also led to a backlash.
Kenyan President William Ruto said that, while he respected the supreme court’s decision, “it doesn’t mean we have to agree with it” — a reaction less hostile than from many other leading politicians.
Meanwhile, NGLHRC activists have reported a surge in threats against the community.
Calls it has received reporting abuse, including assaults, threats and discrimination, rose from 78 in January to 117 in February and 367 last month, the organization said.
Victims include a 31-year-old lesbian who last week was on the back of a motorbike taxi in outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, when she was stopped by about 10 motorcycle riders.
They surrounded her, pushed her and shouted they knew she was “one of them” — meaning gay — before a couple walking past intervened and the crowd dispersed, said the woman, who asked not to be named.
“Things have gotten worse after the ruling and Uganda’s recent introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill,” she said, referring to a draft law passed by neighboring Uganda’s parliament last month that would criminalize identifying as LGBTQ and introduce the death penalty for some same-sex acts.
For now, Kenya is still seen as a relative haven for LGBTQ people in a hostile region. Unlike in many of the more than 30 other African countries where same-sex relations are illegal, its colonial-era anti-gay law is rarely enforced.
The court’s judgement said the NGO board’s ban on NGLHRC contravened constitutional freedoms of association and protections against discrimination.
Yet the NGLHRC’s records shows that discrimination — by employers, landlords and healthcare providers — is on the rise, and one lawmaker has threatened to introduce a bill imposing a life sentence for homosexual acts.
For Kevin Mwachiro, an LGBTQ activist for 15 years, this is the most challenging time that the community inside Kenya has experienced.
“People ... feel like they have the right to attack you, and they feel that they have that right because of what has been said in the press, what the government has said,” he said.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, in the clearest sign yet Beijing is advancing toward producing the nation’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery and Chinese government documents provided to The Associated Press. There have long been rumors that China is planning to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the research by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California is the first to confirm it is working on a nuclear-powered propulsion system for a carrier-sized surface warship. Why is China’s pursuit of nuclear-powered carriers significant? China’s navy is already
‘SIGNS OF ESCALATION’: Russian forces have been aiming to capture Ukraine’s eastern Donbas province and have been capturing new villages as they move toward Pokrovsk Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Saturday said that Ukraine faced increasing difficulties in its fight against Moscow’s invasion as Russian forces advance and North Korean troops prepare to join the Kremlin’s campaign. Syrskyi, relating comments he made to a top US general, said outnumbered Ukrainian forces faced Russian attacks in key sectors of the more than two-and-a-half-year-old war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a nightly address said that Ukraine’s military command was focused on defending around the town of Kurakhove — a target of Russia’s advances along with Pokrovsk, a logistical hub to the north. He decried strikes
RSS