Hundreds of Muslims in Kenya’s capital rallied Friday outside the Supreme Court to protest its decision last month to reaffirm the LGBTQ community’s right of association, saying that the verdict condoned immorality and demanding that some justices step down
The protest in Nairobi took place after the Friday prayers, with demonstrators holding signs that attributed the verdict to “Neocolonialists”and urged three of the five judges who supported the panel’s majority decision to Repent and Resign
The court last month reaffirmed an earlier ruling that the Non-Governmental Organisation Board in Kenya had discriminated against LGBTQ people when it refused to register their association. The two dissenting judges opposed the ruling on the grounds that Kenya’s laws outlaw same-sex relationships.
“They’re actions that are against God’s commandments, and God’s laws. We do not want our kids to be raised in a society whereby, they can’t go, our boys cannot go after girls, our girls cannot go after our boys. You see? How can children be raised in such a society? This is what we are talking about. This is not a matter of violence. We have come here peacefully just to let the whole world know we are ready to die,” said Abdulkalil Ibrahim, protester
Lawmaker Mohamed Ali urged the court to accept the religious state of Kenya “Islam and Christianity are against gayism,Our country’s constitution doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages. Three people in a court should not go against the societal values“he said
President William Ruto speaking acknowledged the decision of the court but also noted that the country’s culture and religion don’t allow same-sex relationships.
The LGBTQ community in Kenya is often targeted by homophobic people, including in cases of physical and verbal abuse.
Kenya’s neighbor, Uganda, in May enacted an anti-LGBTQ law that carries the death penalty for charges of aggravated homosexuality, defined as cases of same-sex sexual relations involving a minor and other categories of vulnerable people, or when the perpetrator is infected with HIV.
A Kenyan lawmaker, Peter Kaluma, has submitted a similar harsh law in Kenya’s national assembly that is pending a review before it goes to the House for debate.
