Justice for the LGBTI community in Kenya

Before I became a Human Rights Defender, I had to safe guard my living space in a closet. I knew I was safe – nothing could or would harm me – I felt untouchable. I had a place to call home, and I held on to it never jeopardizing the privileges. But all that changed when my family learnt about my sexual identity – resentment now set in.

Unlike many LGBTI members, I feel that, having been born in that family, I have a right to continue being part of it. A lot of the LGBTI community, especially at the grassroots level, do not have a place to lay their heads down at night; they end up in parks and some are raped while trying to get some sleep.

When it comes to illiteracy, some never passed through a classroom door or finish their schooling because of the poverty in their families. And when they ‘come out’ and their families become aware of their sexual identity; they become the curse of the family and the reason for its poverty – and this seems to give the family the right to kick them out.

Those who are unable to finish their education because they ‘came out’, or the school discovered the truth about their sexuality; they face expulsion from one school after another. Others are given a second chance with an ultimatum: ‘change your cursed and sick behavior, and take up the role that society has assigned to you from birth.’

The many trainings and workshops held for LGBTI sensitization seem to bear less fruit and in fact brew chaos; instead of reaching the desired goal of acknowledgment and acceptance. Heterosexual participants begin to resent the attention being paid to the LGBTI question. Is there no humanity and open mindedness in Kenyans? LGBTIs are not asking for a portion of their wealth; just to be accommodative and realize that we too are dynamic and unique in our diversities.

Why would you gang rape a lesbian with the perverse notion that you are correcting a mistake which she didn’t make, and of which you have no clue? You don’t care to inquire why she is the way she is; you kill and mutilate her body parts simply because you feel that she is a disgrace to society; and forget the pitiable medical attention she gets based on your morals and ethics.

Is it right to preach hatred to a congregation? We forget that the LGBTI are human beings and part of that congregation - they need the soul food; but with the church casting them out, who I ask will soothe their bleeding hearts with compassion? The streets do not want us walking around; we are scolded and called names and so, like vampires, we emerge at night to find a more peaceful and friendly environment.

The UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights is only concerned with gender, not sexual identity. The new constitution is ambiguous on the issue of homosexuality; and so we are left with no foolproof legislation to defend our rights. For the LGBTI community the nation has decided that it is immoral, and hence it does not deserve any human rights regardless of the basic fact that it is still human. The law does not take any case of a victimised LGBTI seriously; it is as if one more troubleshooter has gone, it is Amen to that!

Is it not sacrilegious or ungodly when a priest preaches water and drinks wine? Are priests not supposed to minister to ALL their flock? To show them love and understanding, not condemnation. The oft-quoted reference to homosexuality as a sin is a passing phrase in Leviticus in the Old Testament. The Old Testament also tells us not to eat shrimps, discipline a disobedient child, and umpteen other admonitions – do we follow those to the letter? South Africa’s white supremacists based their brutal policy of apartheid on a verse in the Old Testament! And please note: the New Testament makes NO mention of homo-sexuality.

We become outcasts in the family, a joke to society and before you know it people are disgusted with us and even plan ways of eliminating us. We face the community’s malicious backlashes and gossip about our sexual identity from nosy neighbors; we are evicted from office premises and harassed at work. It is very difficult for an LGBTI person to ensure their own secure space, not even our homes are safe. Even though we keep to ourselves we are exposed to obnoxious questions.

Such stigma can lead to torture and death. In Senegal LGBTIs are actually set on fire even on mere suspicion. Recently six men were arrested and charged for holding a party in one of the guy’s house with no female present - now they are serving 10 years in prison on suspicion of being gay!

It would be understandable for an illiterate person, or a young person, to question a same sex relationship. But for learned persons and academia to do so is unacceptable. When the Hon. Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, Mr Raila Odinga, orders the arrest of Gays and Lesbians in the country on a mere conjecture, where is our security? He has done so on two occasions: in Kibera on 28 November and in the KICC on 1 December last year on World Aids Day. This year, we the lesbians and sex workers held a silent demonstration to protest to the Prime minister’s remarks. He is playing with people’s lives just to make a political point. This is not about who gets more votes but about how many people in the country will perish from his irresponsible utterances.

It is insinuated that Gays and Lesbians need ‘modification’. From what, into what, to be who? I ask what is it that we do that needs to be approved? The LGBTI communities are not animals or plants that can be made extinct. It is heterosexual couples that give birth to the LGBTI community. You cannot hunt us down and deny us our natural basic God given human rights which are our birth right. We are Kenyans too – and nothing and nobody can change that.

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* Gullit Makobe is a human rights and social justice worker.
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