Yunus, Olawale
Kenyan Muslims have staged their protest at the Supreme Court over the approval of the LGBTQ right to associate, saying that the verdict condoned immorality and demanding that some justices step down.
Following Friday prayers, protesters in Nairobi held posters calling the ruling the work of “neo-colonialists” and calling on three of the five judges who agreed with the panel’s majority judgement to “Repent and Resign.”
Last month, the court upheld a previous decision that the Kenyan Non-Governmental Organisation Board had discriminated against LGBTQ individuals by refusing to register their organisation. The two judges who dissented from the decision said that same-sex relationships are illegal under Kenyan law.
They said, “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 societal values.”
Following the verdict, President William Ruto stated that while he appreciated the court’s decision, the country’s culture and religion forbade same-sex unions.
In Kenya, homophobic individuals frequently target the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, including through verbal and physical abuse.
Uganda, Kenya’s neighbour, passed an anti-LGBTQ law in May that includes the death penalty for those found guilty of aggravated homosexuality, which is defined as situations of same-sex relationships involving minors and other vulnerable groups of people or when the offender is HIV-positive.
Peter Kaluma, a Kenyan lawmaker, has proposed and submitted bill in Kenya’s national assembly that is yet to be reviewed before the House’s debate on it.