Africa
Kenyan LGBTQ groups seek representation in government human rights body
New report documents lack of employment opportunities, limited access to financial system
Kenyan advocacy groups are demanding representation in the country’s government-funded human rights body in order to champion their interests in a bid to end inequality and discrimination against them.
The groups that advocate on behalf of lesbians, bisexuals, queer and gender non-conforming people in a report released in May note their exclusion from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights representation has contributed to the elusive realization of equal rights that other citizens enjoy.
The report, dubbed “An Economic Justice Report for LBQGNC in Kenya,” details continued discrimination against LGBTQ Kenyans in employment opportunities, financial services and government social empowerment funding.
This situation is despite the country recording progressive women’s economic inclusion, whose rate, according to Kenya’s Bureau of Statistics data, is 40 percent in urban areas and 22 percent in parts of the country. This figure is attributed to favorable laws and policies that allow equal and active participation of women in economic activities.
The report notes discrimination against queer people in employment in both public and private sectors due to homophobia has forced most of them to become entrepreneurs, including models, with some benefiting from the government’s social empowerment funding.
“The Kenyan government should ensure that a minimum of one commissioner is included in the makeup of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights whose focus will be to represent all members of the LGBTQ+ community,” the 52-page report reads.
The Kenya Human Rights Organization, which advocates for equal rights, regardless of one’s gender identity and sexual orientation, had made a similar demand to help address anti-LGBTQ discrimination.
The push to have an LGBTQ representative comes at a time when intersex people in Kenya have a commissioner on the KNHCR who advocates for their rights following their recognition in law last year as the country’s third sex.
To address the problem of discrimination in employment, the report wants the government and other relevant players to establish an employment agency for the queer community to help form networks among LGBTQ-friendly businesses.
“Financial institutions could also support LBQGNC businesses by providing attractive interest rates for loans and reasonable repayment deadlines. This can be better achieved through partnerships with LGBTQ+ organizations to help identify businesses run by LBQGNC persons,” the report reads.
It urges banks and other financial institutions to set up departments or teams in charge of identifying and addressing LGBTQ Kenyans’ financial needs, reviewing provisions that limit their access to certain products and services. This includes limitations to opening joint accounts that are only open to heterosexual married couples, the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations and legal recognition of same-sex partners.
The report, whose data collection entailed desktop research and interviewing of LGBTQ people in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, and cities that include Mombasa and Kisumu, notes continued discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity continues to have an impact in education: LGBTQ people face expulsion from school, bullying and stigma.
The rejection and discrimination against LGBTQ people, according to the report, starts with the family, relatives and the community, where they are sometimes subjected to forced moral “conversion” to confirm to society.
“From a human rights perspective, practices such as conversion ‘therapy’ ought to be denounced, with many countries having taken steps towards ensuring its eradication within their jurisdictions,” the report reads.
The so-called conversion therapy methods are varied and may include electro-shock therapy and forced administration of medication to induce drowsiness and lethargy, one of the survivors who also almost died said.
“This is the sad reality faced by too many LBQGNC people in Kenya to this day, at the basis of which is the religious, cultural, and overall societal discrimination against the people in this community,” reads the report.
Kenya’s Education Ministry in March established a Chaplains Committee comprising religious leaders from various denominations to provide counseling to students who identify as LGBTQ to stop its so-called infiltration in schools. The controversial Supreme Court ruling in February that allowed LGBTQ NGOs to register prompted this decision.
The ruling, which has been appealed to the attorney general, sparked criticism from clerics and political leaders since Section 162 of the Penal Code criminalizes consensual same-sex acts with 14 years prison term.
The LGBTQ rights groups want Kenya’s new curriculum, especially on social ethics and religious education, reviewed and to embrace sexual orientation and gender identity by recognizing LGBTQ people as normal and not “social outcasts.”
“Additionally, ensure that the school environment fosters respect for all people, human rights, and each child’s family values in an atmosphere of understanding, tolerance, and equality,” the report states.
The report asks the government to require all schools to have anti-bullying policies that protect LGBTQ persons and teachers undergo training on diversity and inclusion to promote gender equality. The groups also want the government to guarantee equal access to reproductive healthcare and HIV/AIDS information and treatment that recognizes and respects the needs of LGBTQ people.
The report also seeks a policy paper to help health practitioners and medical students how to work with queer people.
Uganda
Uganda Human Rights Commission asks government to decriminalize homosexuality
Anti-Homosexuality Act took effect in 2023
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.
Africa
Anglican Church of Southern Africa rejects blessings for same-sex couples
South Africa’s Inclusive and Affirming Ministries criticized resolution
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.
Uganda
Activists urge the World Bank not to resume lending to Uganda
Country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act signed in 2023
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.
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