Kenyan court bars anti-LGBTQ+ protests
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The queer community in Kenya has a moment of respite after a Mombasa court on Monday decided that clerics, politicians, and anti-LGBTQ+ groups are barred from engaging in homophobic protests or incitement activities.
This decision by the Mombasa High Court is provisional until July 24, when the court in Kenya’s second-largest city will review a petition on this matter.
Last October, two petitioners — Mr. JM and the Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation — filed a lawsuit against Police Inspector General Japhet Koome for permitting religious leaders and advocacy groups to organise homophobic protests following court decisions favourable to the LGBTQ+ community.
This legal action by the petitioners to prohibit anti-LGBTQ+ protests in Kenya stemmed from several homophobic protests, especially in Mombasa, after the Supreme Court’s confirmation last September of a previous ruling that allowed the National Gay and Lesbian Rights Commission to register as an NGO.
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According to ‘Washington Blade’, Mombasa High Court Judge Olga Sewe in her Monday decision also mandated that the petitioners and the respondents, which include Koome, two anti-LGBTQ+ activists, and a national advocacy group named the “Anti-LGBTQ Movement” that orchestrated protests, submit their witness lists and counter statements within 14 days of the July session.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this petition, this Honorable Court (does) hereby issue a conservatory order restraining the 2nd and 5th Respondents from inciting the public to engage in extra-judicial killings, lynching, punishment, stoning, forcible conversions, or any acts of violence against LGBTQ+ identifying individuals and their homes,”Judge Sewe declared.
She further prohibited the “Anti-LGBTQ movement,” Koome, and any state agency from attempting “expulsion from Kenya or any part of Kenya of LGBTQ+ identifying individuals or closure of organizations serving LGBTQ+ identifying individuals.”
Following the decision, the Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation led a protest on April 11 against the “Anti-LGBTQ Movement”'s disruption at Mvita Clinic in Mombasa triggered by “hateful misinformation” allegedly due to the clinic’s service to queer people.
“Mvita Clinic, like all healthcare providers, serves the entire community,” CMRSL stated, “Targeting them for LGBTQ+ inclusion is discriminatory and an attack on the basic right to health. Everyone deserves access to healthcare, and we urge an end to the spread of lies. Let’s promote inclusivity and ensure Mvita Clinic remains a safe space for all.”
In light of Judge Osewe's ruling, CMRSL expressed that it was a “major win for safety and equality in Kenya” as it allows LGBTQ individuals to live with “greater peace of mind.”
The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination, an LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group, also praised the court's decision as a temporary cessation of homophobic attacks on the queer community.
“There is some relief given the security incidents we experienced during the protests on Sept. 15 last year,” INEND Communications Officer Melody Njuki remarked to the Washington Blade.
“We had to rescue LGBTQ+ individuals in Mombasa, Kilifi, and Lamu, due to security threats spurred by the hatred the anti-LGBTQ movement promoted and their calls for violence against individuals affiliated with the queer community or those identifying as members,” she added.
PEMA Kenya, a Mombasa-based organisation advocating for gender and sexual minorities, also applauded the court’s preliminary injunction, describing it as timely in protecting the LGBTQ+ community from all forms of homophobic attacks.
“We welcome the ruling and believe it will significantly influence our members who previously felt deprived of their freedom to express themselves,” PEMA Kenya director Ishmael Baraka said.
The Nature Network, a rights organisation for refugees residing in Kenya, also welcomed the ruling, recognising it as “a positive step showing the courts’ commitment to upholding human rights for all.”
Salim Karama, Chair of the “Anti-LGBTQ Movement," however, declined to comment on the ruling to the Blade until the determination of the petition's status, noting that the organisation is awaiting their lawyer’s guidance regarding the decision and the submission of counter statements ordered by Judge Sewe.
Meanwhile, as LGBTQ+ rights groups continue to seek legal protections for the queer community in Kenyan courts, the parliament is set to review a petition concerning what it describes as the widespread presence of homosexuality in the country.
On Feb. 27, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula directed the petition to the appropriate parliamentary committee for investigation after MP Ali Mohamed, a member of the ruling party and a vocal opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, presented it in the National Assembly, the lower house of the Kenyan parliament, on behalf of a coalition of over 70 Kenyans and religious groups opposed to homosexuality.
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