The queer community in Kenya has condemned the government’s policy of discriminating against LGBTQ asylum seekers, and has launched a petition that challenges it.

The community, through an All Out petition drive, accuses Kenya’s Department of Refugee Services of putting queer asylum seekers at more risk of “persecution, violence, and exploitation” by not recognizing them as afflicted refugees.

The action is in response to Refugee Affairs Commissioner John Burugu’s comments in an interview last month where he said Kenya would not consider persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity as a direct pass to asylum.

Burugu during a telephone interview said “we are not interested in anyone’s sexual identity,” and his department will not be convinced that persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity is sufficient grounds for admission as an asylum seeker or refugee.

The Kenya 2021 Refugees Act, which governs Burugu’s department in the admission of refugees and asylum seekers in the country, does not explicitly recognize queer people among vulnerable individuals fleeing persecution. The law only recognizes refugees or asylum seekers as people who are persecuted based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a social group. 

Opposition MP George Kaluma’s proposed anti-homosexuality law also seeks the expulsion of LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers from Kenya.   

“Decision-makers like the Department of Refugee Services and UNHCR Kenya are failing to uphold international human rights standards while the media and major NGOs remain silent,” reads the petition.

It notes the exclusion of LGBTQ refugees has left the majority of them vulnerable to more trauma and isolation.

They can wait up to a decade for the department to issue a decision on their asylum applications. It typically takes 12 months to process asylum applications in Kenya.

The petitioners note this delay has also increased violence, discrimination, and persecution of queer asylum seekers by the public and government authorities without any legal protection.   

“Historically, Kenya provided refuge for LGBTQ+ people fleeing danger, but the situation has worsened dramatically since 2017,” reads the petition. “From 2017, the government refused to process LGBTQ+ asylum claims, forcing over 400 people to flee to South Sudan in search of safety.”

This change is due to the U.N. Refugee Agency’s handing over the processing of asylum applications in Kenya to the government under the Department of Refugee Services in 2016. 

UNHCR has admitted to slowing the processing of queer asylum seekers’ applications since surrendering the duty to the Kenyan government. It has asked the Department of Refugee Services to resolve the problem.

More than 200 people have signed the petition, which organizers hope to present to Kenyan and international human rights bodies that include UNHCR Kenya, the Department of Refugee Service, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Refugee Consortium of Kenya. Other groups include the UNHCR High Commissioner in Geneva, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, Amnesty International, the International Organization for Migration, and the Church World Service.     

The petitioners want the bodies to “take immediate action” to protect LGBTQ asylum seekers in Kenya against discrimination and exclusion, noting it not only violates queer peoples’ basic human rights, but disregards Nairobi’s obligations under international law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention.  

“As key decision-makers, you have the power to reverse this exclusion and ensure that the LGBTQ+ asylum seekers are protected from harm and granted the rights they are due,” reads the petition.

There are more than an estimated 1,000 LGBTQ refugees in Kenya. Many queer people — especially from Uganda — continue to flee to Kenya in the wake of the enactment of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023.

The petitioners want queer asylum seekers recognized for admission and their applications expedited like other refugees and their concerns over discrimination and violence addressed.

“The Department of Refugee Services should officially retract the discriminatory statement made by the DRS commissioner, which excluded LGBTQ+ individuals from protection under the refugee mandate,” reads the petition.

The petitioners also want queer people represented in the Global Refugee Forum and the Refugee Working Groups to have their voices heard and needs addressed in global decision-making processes.

The Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation, a Kenyan LGBTQ rights group, described Burugu’s sentiments as “deeply concerning, regrettable, and against the law.”   

CMRSL Legal Manager Michael Kioko told the Washington Blade the organization has received many complaints from queer refugees and asylum seekers about homophobic discrimination and other violations in the country. The Department of Refugee Services and UNHCR Kenya, he said, took no action to address them.

“The DRS commissioner is obligated under Section 21 of the Refugees Act to ensure measures are taken to protect asylum seekers who have been traumatized or require special protection. This includes LGBTIQ+ refugees in Kenya,” Kioko said.

He noted this directive is also in line with the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees to which Kenya is a signatory, and applicable under Article 2(6) of the constitution.

“It is imperative that the Department of Refugee Services adheres to its obligations under the Refugees Act and the Constitution to protect LGBTIQ+ refugees,” Kioko said. “Their safety must be prioritized, especially in light of the increasing violence and discrimination that LGBTIQ+ persons in Kenya are facing.”

Kioko added Kenyan courts have ruled queer people are members of a social group the Refugees Act recognizes for admission as refugees in cases of persecution, and LGBTQ asylum seekers cannot be excluded.

Some Ugandan queer rights organizations have asked the government to repeal the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that is currently under appeal at the Supreme Court to save the country from huge economic losses.

The organizations, while reacting to a new report that reveals the Anti-Homosexuality Act has cost Uganda up to $1.6 billion since President Yoweri Museveni signed it in May 2023, note the draconian law is not just “regressive” to LGBTQ rights, but also the economy.   

The report that Open for Business, a coalition of leading global organizations that champion LGBTQ inclusion, released on Oct. 10 identifies foreign direct investment, donor aid, trade and tourism, and public health and productivity as major areas that economic losses have impacted.

“Combined losses over five years are projected between $2.3 billion and $8.3 billion,” the report states.

The estimated annual loss breakdown to Uganda’s economy includes $75 million in foreign direct investment, more than $1 billion in donor funding, $312 million in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other public health efforts, $99 million in tourism and $500,000 in trade for tariff payments after the Biden-Harris administration suspended Kampala from the preferential Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.

Other projected annual losses over the next five years because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act are $24 million in labor production because at least 15,000 queer people have fled Uganda, $58 million in national productivity from homophobic stigma and legal repercussions for LGBTQ people, and $500,000 from over-policing and legal costs associated with the law’s enforcement.

The recorded and projected Uganda’s economic losses are attributed to its strained relations with international partners, such as Western countries that imposed sanctions on Kampala over the Anti-Homosexuality Act, and global financiers, such as the World Bank Group that suspended funding.

The Open for Business report notes Kampala’s damaged global relations and funding suspension has impacted Ugandans’ access to antiretroviral therapy because of shortages and medical workers who refuse to treat queer patients because they fear that authorities will punish them.

It also indicates the impact on Uganda’s tourism sector because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act’s negative global perceptions has indirectly affected the hospitality, transport, and retail industries.  

“As the global economy becomes more interconnected and competitive, countries that fail to embrace diversity, and inclusivity are likely to fall behind,” the report states.

The report points out that nearly half of the 49 percent of Ugandans who sought asylum in the UK last year said homophobia prompted them to flee the country. It warns this exodus diminishes Kampala’s growth potential and urges Museveni’s administration to amend or repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act to restore international confidence in economic support and investment.   

“Uganda continues to enforce the AHA (Anti-Homosexuality Act) without addressing international concerns, leading to severe economic isolation,” the report states.”In this scenario, FDI (foreign direct investment) and donor aid could decline sharply, tourism might collapse, and key partners could impose more trade sanctions.” 

Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium, a local NGO that supports and advocates for the rights of LGBTQ people who are homeless and/or victims of violence, described the report’s findings as “alarming,” and added it shows how the Anti-Homosexuality Act and other anti-LGBTQ policies affect the economy.

UMSC Coordinator John Grace told the Washington Blade that the Ugandan government should heed the report’s warnings and “take immediate action to repeal the AHA in its entirety” and not to hurt the country’s economic development.  

“The economic cost of this discriminatory law is too high and the human rights violations it perpetuates are unacceptable,” Grace said.

Grace also noted the projected exodus of 15,000 LGBTQ people from Uganda because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act would be a “tragic loss” for the country in terms of skilled manpower. 

Let’s Walk Uganda, a local lobby group that openly LGBTQ people lead, also responded to the report, noting its findings add more economic pain to the “ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The anxiety within the investment and general business community as a result of the AHA cannot be underestimated,” Let’s Walk Uganda Legal Manager Alex Musiime said. “The ridiculous law should be dropped. The court (Supreme Court) ought to do the right thing and annul this apartheid law.”

Musiime said the World Bank and Uganda’s other international partners and financiers should “intensify dialogue” with Museveni’s government to repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act to save the vulnerable population from the suffering that the freezing of crucial aid to them has caused.

“The Ugandan government should be moved to commit to respecting the rights of LGBTQ+ persons in the implementation of World Bank projects. It should treat this piece of hate in the AHA as no law at all,” he said.

Both Musiime and Grace applauded the Uganda’s Human Rights Commission’s recent plea for the government to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. They consider it a “positive step” that should be “followed by concrete actions” to end homophobic discrimination, violence, and harassment.

A gay couple was beaten and paraded in public this week because of their sexual orientation.

In a video clip shared by Portharcourt Specials on X, the couple who appeared half naked were being insulted and slapped on the back, with one showing trails of blood on his back. The incident took place in Rumuewhara in Port Harcourt.

Although consensual same-sex sexual relations are criminalized in Nigeria and punishable by death on some states, many Nigerians viewed the attack against the couple as distasteful, arguing rapist or pedophiles don’t face the same treatment.

“This is where you will see Nigerians very active on; on matters that don’t concern them because why is someone’s sexual orientation your problem? We are well deserving of politicians that punish us well,” said Rinu Oduala, a human rights activist.

No Hate Network Nigeria, an LGBTQ rights organization, said the couple’s public victimization was a stark reminder of the rampant homophobia in the country.

“The brutal attack on the gay couple is appalling and unacceptable,” said the organization. “It’s a stark reminder of the rampant homophobia and intolerance in Nigeria.” 

“Such violence is often fueled by discriminatory laws, societal norms, and lack of education, this incident highlights the urgent need for increased advocacy, education, and protection for LGBTQI+ individuals,” added No Hate Network Nigeria.

No Hate Network Nigeria also highlighted the plight of LGBTQ people in the country who are constantly under attack due to current laws and cultural and religious norms.

“The LGBTQI+ community in Nigeria faces extreme risks, including violence, harassment, and persecution, the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2014 exacerbates these challenges, effectively criminalizing LGBTQI+ individuals,” said No Hate Network Nigeria. “Many live in fear, hiding their identities to avoid persecution, the community requires enhanced support, safe spaces, and robust advocacy to ensure their basic human rights.”

For many LGBTQ people in the country, remaining in the closet is the only way they can preserve their life. They often flee Nigeria if they decide to come out.

There is currently no appetite from any lawmakers to amend or repeal parts of Section 21 of the Criminal Code Act (Penal Code) that are used to arrest, charge, and prosecute those who identify as LGBTQ.

In northern states where Sharia law is practiced, one who is found to identify as LGBTQ or is an advocate may face death by stoning.

Although not widely practiced, death by stoning is the preferred punishment in many of the northern states if a Sharia court finds someone guilty of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual relations. A number of local and international human rights organizations in recent years have condemned this punishment. It is, however, still enforced in some of these states.

No Hate Network Nigeria said amending parts of the Criminal Code Act and repealing the Same Sex (Prohibition) Act might give relief to LGBTQ people in the country.

“Repealing or amending discriminatory laws, like the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, implementing education and awareness campaigns to combat homophobia, establishing safe spaces, and support networks for LGBTQI+ individuals and strengthening law officials’ response to hate crimes as well as holding perpetrators accountable, will aid in averting and combating attacks on LGBTQI+ individuals,” said No Hate Network Nigeria.

Uganda’s state-funded human rights body has broken its silence on the queer community’s rights by advocating for their protection amid the enacted Anti-Homosexuality Act that is currently under appeal at the Supreme Court.

The Uganda Human Rights Commission on Sept. 26 while defending LGBTQ rights asked President Yoweri Museveni’s government to decriminalize homosexuality and other “victimless crimes.” 

“Criminalizing such acts often results in unjust and disproportionate punishment, especially for vulnerable groups in our society,” Mariam Wangadya, who chairs the commission, said. 

Wangadya, a lawyer and human rights advocate, spoke for the first time about the commission’s position on queer rights in Uganda since President Yoweri Museveni in May 2023 signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

She spoke during the annual stakeholders meeting for ACTV-Uganda, a rights organization that advocates against torture, gender-based violence, and other forms of violence, and has provided care to victims and survivors for 30 years with the commission’s support. 

Wangadya acknowledged ACTV-Uganda’s important role in providing the commission with medical reports for torture cases to assist it in determining compensation for survivors of torture to rebuild their lives.    

“Of the 939 cases currently pending a hearing before our tribunal, 50 percent of those are allegations of violation of the right to freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment,” she noted.  

Her sentiments on the commission’s stand on LGBTQ rights also come barely two weeks after holding talks with two rights groups: The Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) and Support Initiative for People with Congenital Disorders (SIPD), an intersex lobby group, on Sept. 14.

The meeting between the commission, HRAPF, and SIPD, which also documents and publishes reports on queer rights abuses in Uganda, explored human rights violations based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics.     

“We must ensure that every person in Uganda enjoys their human rights without discrimination,” Wangadya said. 

The commission also noted that engaging the intersex lobby group was vital to address their “often-overlooked issues and rights.” 

The Ugandan government has yet to recognize intersex people as a protected minority group, unlike in Kenya. This year’s national Census did not count them.

HRAPF Executive Director Adrian Jjuuko applauded the meeting with Wangadya as a “progressive step” in defending the rights of the queer community and intersex people.

“We commend the commission on creating a space for dialogue on issues of criminalized minorities in Uganda,” Jjuuko said. 

Wangadya held the first meeting with Jjuuko on Sept. 9. It focused on HRAPF’s periodical reports on violations against sexual minorities in Uganda.

Wangadya and Jjuuko during the meeting both agreed that all people deserve protection under the law and the commission has to protect everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.   

“You need to talk to the Judiciary, the police, and the director of Public Prosecutions. These are our major disturbing areas,” Jjuuko said, accusing the three government agencies of undermining intersex and LGBTQ rights in the country.

Wangadya acknowledged the contribution of the three judicial agencies in protecting and upholding human rights, but noted that there is a need for working with Kenya, South Africa, and other countries to understand how they navigate LGBTQ and intersex legal issues.

“Kenya will be much better for benchmarking considering that in South Africa the constitution provides for that (queer rights.) Benchmarking from a country like Kenya with similar laws may be more helpful,” she said.    

The Wangadya also committed to tapping into HRAPF’s human rights strategies and experiences to improve the commission’s mechanisms. 

HRAPF promotes respect for the rights of marginalized and minority groups in Uganda through advocacy, offering legal aid, and providing capacity building. Its latest August report on monthly advocacy, violence and other human rights abuses based on sexual orientation or gender identity since the Anti-Homosexuality Act took effect shows anti-LGBTQ violence remains rampant, while evictions and arrests continue to drop.

The report states that a total of 56 human rights violations were recorded in August, versus 72 cases in July. 

Of the 56 cases, 20 cases (35.7 percent) were based on sexual orientation or gender identity, versus 34 cases (41.2 percent) in July. The number of also reported victims also dropped from 40 people in July to 24 people in August. The 20 cases targeting LGBTQ people involved violence and threats (10), eviction from housing (nine), and one arrest.

Uganda’s Women Human Rights Defenders Network welcomed the commission’s inaugural meetings with HRAPF and SIPD, and asked the state-funded rights body to continue holding regular dialogues to help “create an enabling environment for SOGIESC (sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.)” 

Wangadya’s comments coincided with a protest outside Uganda’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. in New York that a group of activists organized. 

The World Bank Group in August 2023 suspended new lending to Uganda in response to the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The activists who organized the protest demanded the World Bank not resume loans to the country.

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has rejected a proposal that would have allowed bishops to bless couples in same-sex unions.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba in April urged the Provincial Synod, the ACSA’s highest decision council, to consider offering blessings for couples in same-sex relationships.

The Church of England, which is the ACSA’s parent church, on Dec. 17, 2023, announced it would allow bishops to bless couples in same-sex unions. Since the resolution, however, several churches under the Church of England have not implemented it.

In response to proposals to the Synod from the Right Rev. Raphael Hess, bishop of Saldanha Bay in South Africa, who is the first within the ACSA to approve blessings for couples in same-sex unions after the Church of England’s resolution, and the Right Rev. Stephen Diseko, dean of the province and bishop of Matlosane, which is also in South Africa, the Provincial Synod in a Sept. 25 press release said marriage is between one man and one woman for life.

Makgoba before the Synod said the church needed a deeper understanding on the prospects of the LGBTQ community within the ACSA.

“Since Provincial Synod 1989, we have been trying to reconcile our understanding of the nature of God with how we minister to LGBTQI+ members in our pews,” he said. “Have we listened to and adequately sought reconciliation with one another on providing appropriate pastoral care to loving faithful couples in same-sex civil unions? What is this Provincial Synod, 35 years later, going to resolve beyond flowery words?”

“In my past 16 years, I have relied for guidance on such matters on, in no particular order, theological advisers, the Canon Law Council, the Southern African Anglican Theological Commission, Safe and Inclusive Church, the Anglican Board of Education, the Synod of Bishops, Scripture of courses, and on the lived experiences of our parishioners in such unions and relationships,” added Makgoba.

Inclusive and Affirming Ministries, a South African LGBTQ rights group, said it was deeply disappointed over the Provincial Synod’s decision.

“This decision, along with the rejection of a set of prayers drawn up by bishops for providing pastoral ministry to members in civil unions, feels like a missed opportunity to move toward a more inclusive and compassionate expression of faith,” said the organization.

Inclusive and Affirming Ministries also said the decision to withhold blessings and deny prayers of pastoral care to those in civil unions will further marginalize LGBTQ people.

“Through our work, we also know that religious-instigated forms of hostility meted out against LGBTIQ+ people have been the root cause of the perpetuation of violence, hate speech, and hate crimes,” said the group. “The Synod’s choice to move away from this compassionate path suggests that much work remains to be done in the journey toward full inclusion.”

Inclusive and Affirming Ministries nevertheless commended Hess and Diseko for bringing their proposal to the Synod.

“The theological insights offered by Bishop Hess and Bishop Diseko during the debates were grounded in love, respect for conscience, and the universal recognition of human dignity,” said the group. “We remain hopeful and committed to fostering spaces where LGBTIQ+ individuals feel affirmed, supported, and welcomed in their faith communities. We will continue to advocate for pastoral care and recognition of the diversity of sexual orientation within the church and other faith communities.”

Four countries — Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa — and St. Helena, a British overseas territory, comprise ACSA with more than three million parishioners.

South Africa and St. Helena are the only jurisdictions within the ACSA that fully recognize the rights of LGBTQ people.

The Namibian Supreme Court in 2023 ruled the country must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere. The country’s government in July appealed a ruling that overturned an apartheid-era sodomy law.

A group of activists who organized a protest outside Uganda’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. in New York on Thursday demanded the World Bank Group not resume loans to the country.

The World Bank in August 2023 suspended new lending to Uganda in response to the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that President Yoweri Museveni signed.

“The law needs to be struck down and repealed. Hard stop,” acting U.S. World Bank Executive Director L. Felice Gorordo told the Washington Blade during a March 27, 2024, interview at his office in Washington. “We continue to advocate for that.”

Thursday’s protest coincided with the U.N. General Assembly that began earlier in the week in New York.

A press release the activists issued before the protest notes the World Bank “recently started testing a package of ‘mitigation measures’ to determine if discrimination is taking place.” The Council for Global Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, Outright International, Sexual Minorities Uganda, and Health GAP are among the more than 100 LGBTQ rights organizations from around the world that urged World Bank President Ajay Banga in a Sept. 16 letter not to restart lending to Uganda.

“We are writing to you from Uganda and around the world now because we are alarmed by the World Bank’s plan for mitigation measures in Uganda,” reads the letter. “The World Bank has announced that it will be testing the effectiveness of ‘mitigation measures’ from July-September 2024 and that the World Bank will restart lending if they decide the measures are effective in protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.”

Richard Lusimbo, director general of the Uganda Key Population Consortium, in the press release said the World Bank’s “so-called ‘mitigation measures’ are a façade, designed to provide the illusion of protection.”

“They rely on perpetrators of discrimination — the government of Uganda — to implement the measures fairly,” he said. “How can they be taken seriously?” 

A World Bank spokesperson on Friday responded to the Washington Blade’s request for comment about the protest.

“The World Bank cannot deliver on its mission to end poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet unless all people can participate in, and benefit from, the projects we finance,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson referred the Blade to an Aug. 8, 2023, statement that announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda. 

“Immediately after the law was enacted, the World Bank deployed a team to Uganda to review our portfolio in the context of the new legislation,” reads the statement. “That review determined additional measures are necessary to ensure projects are implemented in alignment with our environmental and social standards. Our goal is to protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination and exclusion in the projects we finance. These measures are currently under discussion with the authorities.”  

“We will not propose any new public financing for Uganda to our board until we are satisfied that additional mitigation measures are in place,” the spokesperson told the Blade on Friday. “These mitigation measures have been designed to ensure beneficiaries of bank-financed projects are not discriminated against and receive equal access to services.”  

One such mitigation measure is “stakeholder engagement” that, among other things, seeks to strengthen “consultations to detect instances of exclusion or discrimination (do-no harm safety.)” Another specifically highlights “labor and working conditions” and focuses on the need for “training on inclusion and non-discrimination for borrowers (e.g., contractors and sub-contractors) and mobilization of communities” and including “provisions of non-discrimination in contracts.”

The World Bank has said the Ugandan government has agreed to the mitigation measures.

Clare Byarugaba of Chapter 4 Uganda said there “can be no business as usual between the World Bank and the government of Uganda while this law remains in force.” 

“We are gravely concerned that President Banga is turning his back on us, and breaking his commitments to ensuring non-discrimination,” she said.

A Kenyan LGBTQ rights organization has adopted a virtual legal aid platform that allows its lawyers to offer free services to queer people remotely.    

The Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation, which unveiled the online LGBTQ+ Legal Aid Clinic platform, attributes the move to lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the wide use of online meetings.    

“The LGBTQ+ Online Legal Aid Clinic is, we believe, the first of its kind in Kenya providing pro bono legal advice services directly to the LGBTQ community,” CMRSL states.  

The online legal aid clinic connecting CMRSL advocates and queer people via Zoom, Google, and other virtual platforms is an extension of the organization’s physical legal aid clinic launched in 2020 to consolidate the volunteer lawyers’ free legal services it has been offering since 2007. 

The organization recognizes the Canadian government’s financial support in setting up the two legal aid clinics.   

Michael Kioko, a CMRSL advocate, told the Washington Blade the organization first thought about adopting an online legal aid clinic for the queer community during the COVID-19 period during which officials limited movement to combat the virus. 

“We noted that we could reach people far across the country like Kakuma Refugee Camp where we have attended to LGBTQ refugees and also realized that we could work with more volunteer advocates across the nation,” Kioko said.

The organization has about 20 volunteer advocates who are trained on LGBTQ issues in order to be sensitive to queer clients. 

Both the CMRSL’s physical and online legal aid clinics have offered services to more than 1,000 queer clients since 2020. Kioko noted CMRSL receives more than 40 cases a month through the online platform.  

“The cases we receive include house evictions from homophobic discrimination as the most common, especially in Mombasa and Lamu, physical assault, and verbal abuse,” Kioko stated.

Other cases CMRSL advocates handle for the queer community are name changes for transgender women, child custody cases for bisexual women, disputes between lesbian or bisexual partners, and work to ensure a witness to a queer person’s assault stands with them until the perpetrator is convicted.

“We are also handling criminal defense cases where LGBTQ persons have been charged in court and they are two for transgender women (one case in Lamu was acquitted), we have four cases for four gay men (two cases have been withdrawn), and under civil cases in the children’s court we have four cases by bisexual women,” Kioko said.

The LGBTQ rights organization also has filed two petitions in the Court of Appeal that challenged the country’s anti-homosexuality laws.

“We are also planning to set up a legal desk by this year to deal with cases that require long-term commitment,” Kioko said.

The organization has been conducting public forums to enlighten the LGBTQ community on accessing justice through free legal help through its physical and virtual clinics.

CMRSL, however, demands any LGBTQ person seeking its services by filling a legal aid form not to be under 18-years-old. It takes at least three days for the lawyer to have a virtual consultation with a potential client, and, if necessary, would then refer them to a nearby legal clinic for physical assistance.  

The organization also limits its legal assistance to individual matters that include criminal, family, employment, blackmail, assault, and discrimination cases based on sexual and gender identity or expression.    

“We will not provide advice to businesses or in respect of business dealings unless the advice sought is on an issue that arises out of one’s SOGIE,” states CMRSL.  

CMRSL also does not offer legal advice on financial matters, such as investment, sale, or purchase of property or other assets unless the help sought is on an issue that relates to one’s LGBTQ identity.  

Kioko noted that adopting the online legal aid clinic has been impactful in helping CMRSL handle many issues almost at once and asked the LGBTQ community to embrace the virtual platform.  

“The platform is more flexible and convenient both for the advocate and the client,” he said. “It is also more private and safe for the client compared to the physical legal clinic which has some privacy risks like homophobic stigma.”

CMRSL under its values and strict data protection policy assures its LGBTQ clients of treating all information submitted or collected with utmost confidentiality.

Kioko noted that the lack of smartphones to access the internet and sometimes network connection for LGBTQ people in remote areas remains a big challenge for some queer persons to use the virtual legal clinic. Lawyers and queer people can consult with CMRSL via phone calls when their clients don’t have smartphones.

Lawmakers in the Seychelles on Wednesday approved a bill that will add an LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes provision to the country’s penal code.

The National Assembly by an 18-8 vote margin approved the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The hate crimes provision specifically includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV/AIDS status, among other factors. The bill states anyone convicted of a hate crime based on the outlined characteristics could face a fine and/or up to two years in prison for the first conviction and a fine and/or up to three years in prison for any subsequent convictions.

“The inclusion of hate speech as an offense within the penal code (Cap. 158) provides for the intention to incite hatred towards a person or group of persons based on their protected characteristics, through various forms of communication or behavior, if the expression is perceived to be threatening, abusive or insulting,” said Attorney General Frank Ally in a July 1 letter that detailed the bill.

Human Dignity Trust, a London-based NGO, in a press release notes it has since 2020 “provided legal assistance” to Ally’s office “to draft the hate crime components of the bill.” The group also highlighted Mark Walters, a professor at the University of Sussex in England, “for his invaluable expertise and contribution to the drafting process.”

“The changes to the penal code will provide new and meaningful protections for people targeted simply because of who they are, and encourages marginalized communities to report crimes,” said Human Dignity Trust Chief Executive Téa Braun. “By enacting this law, the Seychelles has taken a strong stance against hate-motivated violence, ensuring that the most vulnerable members of society are protected.” 

South Africa is the only other African country that includes sexual orientation and gender identity in its hate crimes law.

Seychelles in 2016 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.

Two gay men in Zimbabwe are facing a year in prison after authorities charged them under the country’s sodomy law.

The National Prosecuting Authority says Tavimbanashe Chawatama, 28, and Leonard Nyakudya, 25, appeared in the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Sept. 2. 

The NPA said the men began a relationship last August, lived together, and at times recorded themselves having sex. The couple on Aug. 27 had an altercation involving infidelity, which prompted one of the men to move out of the house. One of them was accused of stealing money as he was about to leave, which prompted the police to respond.

The two men while filing reports at the police station inadvertently provided details about their relationship and living arrangements, which resulted in their arrest for sodomy.

The men have been granted a $50 bail. Their sentencing is expected this month.

HQ Collective ZW, a Zimbabwean advocacy group, said the NPA treated the men unfairly, noting the police ignored their initial reason for approaching them.  

“The issue that was reported and the issue that they are being prosecuted for is a direct reflection of how the LGBTQ community in Zimbabwe is stripped of its human rights. It’s unjust and unfair,” said the group. “We have had cases of sexual assault, corrective rape, pedophilia, and gender based violence within the community, but the community can never take these issues to the police because at the bottom of it, awaits the prosecution of LGBT individuals despite the circumstances at hand.” 

Section 73 (i) of the country’s penal code states “any male person who, with the consent of another male person, knowingly performs with that other person anal sexual intercourse, or any act involving physical contact other than anal sexual intercourse that would be regarded by a reasonable person to be an indecent act, shall be guilty of sodomy and liable to a fine up to or exceeding level 14 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or both.”

Pakasipiti, another Zimbabwean advocacy group, said LGBTQ people in the country constantly need to prove their humanness.

“When the human rights discourse is juxtaposed with developmental agendas it loses its luster,” said the group. “We see the far reaching effects of discrimination from entities such as religious groups and anti-rights groups purporting to protect the family. The lives of people are easily turning into song and dance against another’s humanness.” 

“As minority groups and people who have had to analyze and criticize one’s own existence, our understanding of oppression is not hinged on propaganda nor the subjective moral compasses of the masses. Queer people, more so, LBQ (lesbian, bisexual, queer) women have the burden of proving their humanness twice, if not thrice, to other women too,” added Pakasipiti.

Pakasipiti added it is “constantly reviewing our politics, work and organizing to be cognizant and accommodating of the nuances that we experience and must challenge.” 

“Our work is to ensure that LBQ women are respected and understood within the Zimbabwean society,” it said. “It is neither to beg for recognition. We are, unashamedly, unapologetically, queer Zimbabwean citizens.” 

Although the existence of the LGBTQ community is well known in Zimbabwe, there is currently a huge backlash against this acknowledgment that makes many LGBTQ people and activists vulnerable. 

Hate speech and arbitrarily arrests are common in most parts of the country because of religious and cultural beliefs. 

Zimbabwe currently does not have a law that specifically targets LGBTQ people. Some politicians and religious leaders, however, support one. 

Kenya’s LGBTQ community has decried homophobia in the country’s places of worship leaving some of them with the option of embracing a new queer-friendly church in the capital Nairobi.

The queer people, while sharing homophobic experiences they encountered in Kenyan churches, stated that clerics and other believers have weaponized religious faith as a tool of violence against them.

This hate and discrimination, according to the LGBTQ community, has driven most of them into religious trauma and they are seeking spiritual refuge in the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church (CAC), which is open to queer individuals.   

“As a pastor, I have worked in a [religious] space that as someone who I identify myself as a queer priest, I have been excluded from that very space out of lies that lack the truth to justify my exclusion,” said Godfrey Adera, an associate pastor at CAC.   

Adera spoke during the International Day commemorating victims of violence based on faith and belief marked last Thursday where more than 1,700 queer Kenyans engaged in an X forum.

The forum organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) noted that Uganda’s enactment of the draconian anti-homosexuality law last year has contributed to an increase in homophobic hatred and discrimination in Kenyan churches.

“I have seen a queer person talk about how he was in a church just last week and there were overtly no queer undertones going on in the church and the pastor unprovoked spoke about how he supports President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to deal with gays in Uganda, which is basically calling for a lot of homophobic violence,” said Elle Khaoma, the forum’s moderator from NGLHRC.

The queer community also noted that the plan by Kenya’s opposition MP Peter Kaluma to introduce a punitive anti-homosexuality draft law in parliament and supported by religious leaders and others has increased homophobic hate and stigma in places of worship.

Such actions have seriously impacted the LGBTQ community in terms of religious trauma, mental health, falling away from faith, feeling discriminated against and being perceived as outcasts, and battling stigma to the point of dying by suicide, according to experiences shared by several queer persons.

Some disclosed they decided to flee their homes after being disowned by their parents and siblings for identifying as LGBTQ contrary to religious faith and belief their families and churches subscribe to.

“After the hate and discrimination, I started to recognize my religious trauma. My motivation to overcome it has been that I’m not alone as a queer person to be impacted by religious trauma,” said Wanjiku, a journalist and lawyer.

She reiterated that sharing experiences with other queer persons about religious trauma from various churches, how they have dealt with it, and deconstructing hateful religious ideologies have helped her overcome the stigma.

Pastor Adera affirmed that queer persons should first acknowledge that religion and belief are used as a tool of violence in diversity to target them.

“After acknowledging, it is important to ask critical questions by interrogating the scriptures and finding alternative messages of love, justice, fairness, and God the creator of all humanity then making these messages more heard than the messages of hurt and hate that come with religious narratives,” he said.

He stated that alternative and balanced scriptures that promote inclusivity, diversity, and love that every church should stand for are what the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church teaches to demystify religious narratives of hate against queer individuals in mainstream churches.    

“Religion comes with social control in terms of shaping what morality and norms look like and how we relate to each other, which is not a positive thing as it forms the basis of excluding other people like the queer,” Adera said. “It needs to be talked about and challenged in queer forums and advocacy by calling out people using religion to fuel bigotry, hate, and hurt in the nation.”

The CAC cleric asked the queer persons to take religion seriously since it has a huge influence on society and also urged them to examine it critically to push for inclusive conversations and accommodative norms to enhance social cohesion.  

Adera assured the queer Christians that CAC is one of their alternative religions with resourceful materials like theological books, articles, and scriptures that are interpreted to suit their faith and belief.   

“Mainstream churches have been more of gatekeepers by barring us, the queer persons, from experiencing our religious beliefs like other believers,” he opined.       

During the forum, the queer persons were advised to have trusted and supportive allies who readily come to their protection and deconstruct religious narratives of hate and homophobia passed from generation to generation.     

The LGBTQ community was further urged to be alert and proactive in countering legal, social, and cultural norms or violence that come with religious stigma both at small and large scale.