LGBTQ+ Kenyans denounce homophobia in churches
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Kenya’s LGBTQ+ community has expressed concern over homophobia present in the country’s places of worship, prompting some members to seek solace in a new queer-friendly church in Nairobi.
While recounting their experiences with homophobia in Kenyan churches, queer individuals noted that religious faith has been weaponised by clerics and other believers as a form of violence against them, ‘Watermark Online’ writes.
This hate and discrimination have led many in the LGBTQ+ community to experience religious trauma, driving them to seek spiritual refuge in the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church (CAC), which welcomes queer individuals.
“As a pastor, I have worked in a [religious] space where, as someone who identifies as a queer priest, I have been excluded based on falsehoods that lack truth to justify my exclusion,” stated Godfrey Adera, an associate pastor at CAC.
Adera spoke during the International Day commemorating victims of violence based on faith and belief, observed last Thursday, where over 1,700 queer Kenyans participated in an X forum.
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The forum, organised by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), highlighted that Uganda’s enactment of a harsh anti-homosexuality law last year has intensified homophobic hatred and discrimination in Kenyan churches.
“I have seen a queer person talk about how he was in a church just last week where there were no queer undertones, yet the pastor unprovokedly expressed support for President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to target gays in Uganda, essentially advocating for 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 bill in parliament, backed by religious leaders and others, has increased homophobic hatred and stigma in places of worship.
These actions have severely impacted the LGBTQ+ community, leading to religious trauma, mental health issues, alienation from faith, a sense of discrimination, perceptions as outcasts, and, in some cases, suicide, as shared by several queer individuals.
Some individuals revealed that they had to leave their homes after being disowned by their families for being LGBTQ+, in contradiction to their families’ and churches’ religious beliefs.
“After experiencing hate and discrimination, I began to recognize my religious trauma. My motivation to overcome it has been knowing I'm not alone as a queer person affected by religious trauma,” said Wanjiku, a journalist, and lawyer.
She emphasised that sharing experiences of religious trauma with other queer individuals, discussing how they have managed it, and deconstructing hateful religious ideologies has helped her overcome the stigma.
Pastor Adera stressed that queer individuals need to acknowledge that religion and belief are often used as tools of violence against diversity.
“After acknowledging this, it's vital to explore critical questions by examining scriptures and discovering alternative messages of love, justice, fairness, and God as the creator of all humanity, making these messages more prominent than those of hurt and hate found in religious narratives,” he said.
He explained that the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church teaches alternative and balanced scriptures promoting inclusivity, diversity, and love, challenging religious narratives of hate against queer individuals in mainstream churches.
“Religion imposes social control, defining morality and norms, which is detrimental as it leads to excluding others like the queer,” Adera said. “This needs to be addressed and challenged in queer forums and through advocacy, calling out those using religion to spread bigotry, hate, and harm in the nation.”
Adera encouraged queer individuals to take religion seriously due to its significant societal influence and urged them to critically engage with it to foster inclusive dialogues and accommodating norms to enhance social cohesion.
He assured queer Christians that CAC offers an alternative religious space with resources like theological books, articles, and scriptures accommodating their faith and beliefs.
“Mainstream churches have acted as gatekeepers, preventing us, the queer individuals, from practicing our religious beliefs like other believers,” he noted.
During the forum, queer individuals were advised to have trusted and supportive allies who can protect them and help deconstruct generational religious narratives of hate and homophobia.
The LGBTQ+ community was also encouraged to remain vigilant and proactive in countering legal, social, and cultural norms or violence linked to religious stigma, both on small and large scales.
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