{"id":13325,"date":"2020-08-03T08:59:31","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T06:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/?post_type=news&p=13325"},"modified":"2020-08-03T08:59:31","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T06:59:31","slug":"being-queer-in-kenya-means-you-could-go-to-jail","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/news\/being-queer-in-kenya-means-you-could-go-to-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"“Being queer in Kenya means you could go to jail”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year in early August the Dutch capital is home to a week-long Gay Pride Festival, celebrating the diversity and defending the rights of LGBTQI+ people both in the Netherlands and around the world. Normally the climax is the Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade \u2013 a procession of 80 extravagantly decorated boats along one of the central city canals. Typically, more than half a million spectators join in this huge street party\u2013 gay, straight, old and young, everyone is welcome.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year Coronavirus put the party on hold and the festival week has seen a series of smaller events both online and offline. RNW Media is marking Gay Pride 2020 with the launch of its 6-month campaign\u202f#MyStoryForAStory which aims to encourage young people in the Netherlands to show solidarity with\u202ftheir peers in restrictive countries. The campaign kicks off with the story of Kenyan activist, Atieno and her girlfriend. In a short video being shared by Dutch influencers Geraldine Kemper<\/a>, Milou Deelen\u00a0<\/a> and Linda de Munck <\/a>, they say, \u201cWe are in love but being queer in Kenya means you could go to jail\u201d.<\/p>\n

#Repeal162<\/strong>
\nAtieno is one of the many activists who are part of the #Repeal162 movement which is challenging sections of Kenya\u2019s penal code that outlaw ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature and indecent acts between males whether in public or private’. These \u2018crimes\u2019 carry a penalty of up to 14 years in jail. As Atieno explains, while it\u2019s not technically illegal to identify as LGBTQI+, this \u2018old British law\u2019 criminalises same-sex intimacy and is used to target gay men.<\/p>\n

In May 2019, Kenya\u2019s High Court dismissed a petition calling for the repeal of the relevant sections saying the clauses\u202fdid not discriminate against sexual minorities or violate their constitutional rights as they applied to anyone who engaged in un-natural acts. The ruling was a setback \u2013 but not the end of the fight as an appeal is being mounted against that ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why we are going to court. The way that law\u202fis structured – it goes against a lot of clauses in the constitution. It infringes the right to privacy, it infringes your right to human dignity, a whole list of things in the Bill of Rights.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s scary”<\/strong>
\nViolence, discrimination and hate are a daily experience for many members of Kenya\u2019s LGBTQI+ community, says Atieno:<\/p>\n

“People have been murdered for coming out, people have been murdered for being gay. \u2026\u202fLandlords can just evict\u202fyou,\u202fthey say \u201ctoo many men are coming to this house, what\u2019s happening\u201d. I know someone who had to\u202fmove house\u202f5 times in one year and this is not uncommon\u202ffor gay men. For queer women it\u2019s a bit easier you can just say \u201cOh, you know, she\u2019s my sister\u201d. I have been fortunate\u202fto live in areas where it\u2019s more moderate. We have not been overtly\u202fattacked. But it is scary.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite the difficulties they face there is a strong core network of activists in Kenya\u202fand, says Atieno, it\u2019s getting stronger all the time:<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this case, a\u202freally beautiful\u202fthing has happened. Younger activists are coming up, they are bolder and more out. Around the court case we\u2019re seeing younger\u202fand\u202fyounger people which for me is a sign\u202fthat the movement is strong, it\u2019s growing, it\u2019s\u202freally dynamic\u202fand that\u2019s a beautiful thing to see.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Atieno visited the Netherlands last year and sometimes, she says, dream of moving here, to a country where she could marry her partner and they could build a family in relative safety. But, it\u2019s complicated:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026there\u2019s a part of me that wants to stay at home and see this through.\u202fLeaving and being safe\u202fwould be fine but that\u2019s just for me. There are still all those people who are left behind.\u202f\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

Life-long fight
\n<\/strong>While same-sex marriage is almost certainly a very distant prospect for Kenya, Atieno believes decriminalisation will happen \u2013 perhaps even as soon as next year. But while that\u2019s an important step it will take longer still for attitudes to change and for the LGBTQI+ community to live in safety and dignity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn ten to fifteen years I see decriminalisation and more communal affirmation for queer people. But the fight\u202fwill still be on. This is a fight we will be fighting all our lives and\u202fwe\u2019ll\u202fdie\u202fand other people will continue fighting it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

RNW Media\u2019s #MijnStoryVoorEenStory (#MyStoryForAStory) campaign is asking young people here in the Netherlands to support Atieno and others like her around the world in their fights for their rights and freedoms. And, she believes, there are ways Dutch youth can be allies for the Kenyan queer community:<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely, the Dutch government are strong supporters of human rights all over the world and they continue to provide help and safe spaces where they can. And the Dutch government is a big funder for Kenya so\u202fgood to urge the Dutch government to push strategically for law reform in Kenya.\u201d\u202f<\/em><\/p>\n

Strategic support
\n<\/strong>Atieno also urges people to \u2018Jump on our hashtag #Repeal162\u2019 but there is, however, an even more immediate need \u2013 and that\u2019s financial support for the local organisations active in the fight for the rights of the queer community. Activities, she says, cost money and every little bit helps. Atieno also stresses the importance of people reaching out to local initiatives to ask how\u202fthey can help. LGBTQI+ activists across Africa often face accusations of pushing a \u2018Western\u2019 agenda so true solidarity needs to be strategic and informed by those on the ground waging the battles.<\/p>\n

If you want to help,\u00a0 these Kenyan organisations are working for the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons:<\/p>\n

The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Repeal 162<\/a><\/p>\n

The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination (INEND<\/a>)<\/p>\n

If you are interested in learning more about being gay in Kenya, Atieno is part of the team that created the film \u2018I am Samuel<\/a>\u2019, a portrait of two men falling in love and struggling for acceptance.<\/p>\n

And \u2018Kenyan, Christian Queer\u2019<\/a> is a film about the first LGBTQI+ church in Nairobi, the Cosmopolitan Affirming Community. It poses the question: Is it possible to be African, Christian and gay?<\/p>\n

You can read more about the #MyStoryForAStory campaign here<\/a>. We hope you\u2019ll join in and help create awareness and solidarity by sharing these stories. And look out for our next campaign story on International Youth Day (August 12th).<\/p>\n

Follow RNW Media on Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RNW Media is marking Gay Pride 2020 with the launch of its 6-month campaign\u202f#MyStoryForAStory which aims to encourage young people in the Netherlands to show solidarity with\u202ftheir peers in restrictive countries. The campaign kicks off with the story of Kenyan human rights activist, Atieno. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13325","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/13325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}