NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 2 – Transgender Activist Le Toya Johnson says the backlash that the Supreme Court judgment has received from the clergy and legislators is unwarranted and left members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Community fearing for their lives.
Speaking to Capital FM News, Le Toya stated that the attacks and hate-mongering and the government’s failure to act have spread fear in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
“We need to sit down, have a meaningful conversation and get better words on how to revert this kind of attack that has put the country into a quagmire state. Right now our security is extremely threatened and when we see the church calling for demonstrations, it is really harming us. Where do we run? Do we run to Uganda, it is worse there, do we run to Tanzania, it is crazy,” he said.
The right activist said that the hullabaloo is all for nothing is because most of those critics have not understood what the Supreme Court judgement means.
He explained that the LGBTQ have little to celebrate because the apex court did not decriminalize same-sex conduct under Articles 162 and 165 of the Penal Code violates the rights to equality, non-discrimination, human dignity, security, privacy, and health, all protected under Kenya’s constitution.
“The ruling that has happened is we have been given a mandate to be registered by the NGO Board in Kenya. It is not that we have won anything. There is nothing that we have won, we are just expressing that we have the right of expression and the right of association,” Le Toya explained.
Le Toya who is passionate about gender equality and gay rights says, stigmatization and criminalization has further hindered access to health services and fostered a culture of societal homophobia and transphobia.
Although his Homa Bay based Community Based Organization focuses on the well-being of transgender people in Kenya, the rights activist says the situation in the country is even worse for transgender people.
He noted that not enough education is dispersed to the general population or health care workers to ensure that they are aware as to how to provide sensitized services to LGBT persons.
“That exclusivity is what is making threats around us to become a reality, that then becomes violent and then it is also instigating anxiety in the community. It is also bringing lack of healthcare and service provision because the attitude spills over to those people who are walking in the government such that when we approach them, we give them a hard time, because they do not know how to handle us or deal with protecting us,” Letoya stated.
Transzuri Community Based organisation Director says, decriminalization in other African countries has given the LGBTQ community a platform to fight for their rights.
In its verdict delivered by a five-judge bench on Friday, the Supreme Court castigated the NGOs Coordination Board for refusing to register four names for an LGBTQ organization on the grounds that same-sex marriage is outlawed in Kenya.
Three judges in the five-judge bench ruled that community members have a right to associate even though the law considers same-sex marriages illegal. Hence, the refusal to register them was discriminatory and contravened the law.
Kenya is one of the 32 countries in Africa that criminalize homosexuality. Anyone found guilty of breaking the law can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.
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