Tag: gay kenya

Prof Makau Mutua: I Support Gays, So What?

Interviewed by Denis Nzioka, Prof. Makau Mutua, Dean in an American university, says ‘Matters of human rights and dignity are not a popularity contest. We must do what is right’. Prof. Makau Mutua is the Dean, SUNY Distinguished Professor , Floyd H. & Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar, The State University of NY, Buffalo Law… Read more »

Video: Risky Work in Kenya

Throughout our month in Kenya, Jenni and I ask ourselves, “Would we continue our activism if we received death threats?” Truthfully, we’re not sure. Almost everyone we interviewed in Kenya have had their physical safety threatened at one time or another, and yet they all choose to continue their work. Supergay David Kuria, Kenya’s first… Read more »

Trans In Kenya: A Woman Tells Her Story

It’s hard enough to survive as a gay or lesbian in Kenya. Living as a transperson in Kenya and trying to access medical care brings a different complexity. n Kenya public hospitals deny medical care to transgender people, and government offices refuse to change their identification. Jenni and I spend an afternoon with one pioneering… Read more »

Kenyan Superallies: Reverends on a Mission

Would you be willing to stand up for a minority group that you weren’t a part of? What if it cost you your reputation? Your job? Maybe even your life? In Nairobi we met with two extraordinary individuals, Reverend Michael Kimindu, and Reverend John Makokha who run Other Sheep Africa and Other Sheep Afrika-Kenya, respectively.… Read more »

Kenya slum fires demonstrate need to ensure housing rights- non-gay background story

The fires that swept through the Nairobi slums of Kibera and Mathare reportedly destroying up to 700 homes, were a sharp reminder to African housing ministers meeting in the city of the need to ensure slum dwellers have access to proper services. Kibera is one of Africa’s largest informal settlements and the blaze, which started… Read more »

What is Gay and Lesbian Life Like in Kenya?

In November 2010 the Kenyan Prime Minister condemned homosexuality saying “If found, the homosexuals should be arrested and taken to relevant authorities.” Under international pressure, he retracted his statements days later, saying he only meant that same-sex marriages are illegal in Kenya. The Kenyan penal code criminalizes homosexual behavior with up to 14 years imprisonment… Read more »

Supergay David Kuria: Kenya’s First Openly Gay Political Candidate

In a country where homosexual acts are illegal, you would never believe that an openly gay man could run for public office. And yet, David Kuria has never backed down from standing for his beliefs. He’s been Kenya’s most visible activist beginning with his work as Chairman of the Kenya Gay and Lesbian Coalition of… Read more »

Security High As GALCK Offices Broken Into

Thieves also attack two other offices This morning, thieves broke into the GALCK offices and made away with goods and computer monitors. In what is described as a robbery, the thieves also broke into a clinic located on the first floor building where GALCK offices are also located. They also made away with unknown items… Read more »

Expert Explains Why There Is Little Research On Kenyan LGBTI

Nguru Karugu is a Kenyan public health consultant. He recently spoke about why there is very little research on LGBTI except the MSM in Kenya’s National Aids Programmes. Nguru Karugu, a public health consultant on LGBTI healthcare needs Below are his remarks as told to Behind the Mask’s Melissa Wainaina: “The HIV pandemic in the… Read more »

Persecuted at Home, African Gays Seek Kenya Refuge

Until a new anti-homosexuality bill caused a wave of homophobia in Uganda, John and Paul could hold hands in the streets of the capital Kampala and kiss in night clubs. Then the nightmare started — people began insulting and then assaulting them, and then they had to run away to Kenya. The couple have been… Read more »

Sub-Saharan Africa: Problems with Male Circumcision and HIV Transmission

Important new article finds fault with recent male circumcision trials in Africa. Sub-Saharan African randomised clinical trials into male circumcision and HIV transmission: Methodological, ethical and legal concerns In 2007, WHO/UNAIDS recommended male circumcision as an HIV- preventive measure based on three sub-Saharan African randomised clinical trials (RCTs) into female-to-male sexual transmission. A related RCT… Read more »

Kenya: Blackmail and extortion of gay men on the rise

When Patrick Muiru* met George* on a Facebook dating page, little did he know this was the start of his problems that will leave him naked, sexually assaulted, beaten and humiliated. Patrick is a 26 year old closeted gay man who has fallen prey to blackmailers and extortionists targeting gay men. Patrick who lives in… Read more »

Kenyan Teen Drama Shuga: Gay Rights from the Ground Up

Over the past few years, the issue of gay rights in Africa has become particularly heated with presidents, preachers and global petitioners all wading in. Kenya has been no exception to this trend. Incidents of sexual abuse and ‘corrective rape’ in Nairobi are on the increase and 2010 saw mass attacks against gay men. Meanwhile,… Read more »

Kenyan men trafficked as sex slaves to Gulf states

A Kenyan gay magazine has exposed male sex trafficking between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Identity magazine says that gay and bisexual Kenyans are being lured from universities with promises of jobs only to end up as sex slaves. The prestigious Kenyatta University is being particularly targeted, the magazine found.… Read more »

Identity Magazine

Check out the latest issue of Identity Magazine Source – Issuu

Kenya’s David Kuria Leaves LGBTI Activism To Pave Way For The Next Generation

The Kenyan LGBTI activist David Kuria has announced his exit from mainstream LGBTI activism after a decade of involvement and leadership. During the 10 years that he was active in the struggle for LGBTI rights in Kenya, Kuria became well-known as one of the public faces of the country’s gay community, daring to show his… Read more »

The Gray Area of Gay Refugees

A gay Ugandan couple fled to a Kenyan refugee camp after being disowned by their families and threatened by their community Nairobi, Kenya — The two tender, soft-spoken Ugandans shared a circle of good friends back in their hometown of Kampala. They were close with their families and they started a restaurant together. Life was… Read more »

Kenya: The Gray Area of Gay Refugees

A gay Ugandan couple fled to Uganda, thousands of kilometers from home with little more than the clothes on their backs. They came as brothers to live in a scorching refugee camp in northern Kenya. Surrounded by thousands of others who have fled wars and drought in neighboring countries, they came here to save their… Read more »

Kenyab MSM Activist, Simon Mamicha, Dies Aged 29

Simon Mamicha a well-known MSM activist and peer educator has died in a Nairobi hospital aged 29. Mamicha who was born on May 5 1982 died at 7am today at the Nairobi Coptic Hospital where he had been admitted following an illness. Until his death, Simon was an active member of ISHTAR MSM and was… Read more »