{"id":61649,"date":"2015-07-27T12:10:03","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T11:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=61649"},"modified":"2015-08-03T11:07:45","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T10:07:45","slug":"obama-walks-fine-line-in-kenya-on-lgbti-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/07\/obama-walks-fine-line-in-kenya-on-lgbti-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama Walks Fine Line in Kenya on LGBTI Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jul 25 2015<\/em> – U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in Nairobi at the end of a two-day visit Saturday, focusing on Kenya\u2019s economy and the fight against terrorism, but also briefly touching on gay rights and discrimination.<\/p>\n

\"Presidents<\/a>

Presidents Barack Obama and Uhuru Kenyatta wave to delegates at the Opening Plenary at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, in Nairobi, Kenya on July 25, 2015. Credit: U.S. Embassy Nairobi<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWhen you start treating people differently not because of any harm they are doing to anybody, but because they are different, that\u2019s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode, and bad things happen,\u201d Obama said at a joint press conference with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.<\/p>\n

But LGBTI [Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex] Kenyans are not in agreement about whether Obama\u2019s presence will help or hurt their struggle, according to the Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission<\/a>, Jessica Stern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference of views is a sign of the strength and diversity of the Kenyan LGBTI movement,\u00a0but there\u2019s no question that this is a potential minefield, and ultimately, those who stand to get hurt most are regular Kenyans,\u201d she told IPS.<\/p>\n

Some have argued that the U.S. president speaking out on LGBTQ human rights in Kenya was counterproductive in the past, and has made the people of Kenya, where same-sex relations are punishable by up to 14 years in prison, more homophobic and unsupportive of the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n

Anti-gay organisations like the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum claim that they gained more support due to President Obama\u2019s comments in 2013, along with some American policies, likely because the protection of LGBTQ communities is widely viewed as an American value being imposed on African society.<\/p>\n

After Obama\u2019s comments Saturday, President Kenyatta stated that in Kenya, it is \u201cvery difficult to impose\u201d gay rights because the culture is different from the United States, and the societies do not accept it \u2013 which makes it a \u201cnon-issue\u201d to the government of Kenya.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a deliberate attempt to portray homosexuality as a Western import, which it isn\u2019t,\u201d the U.N. adviser on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, Charles Radcliffe, told IPS. \u201cThe only Western imports in this context are the homophobic laws used to punish and silence gay people,\u201d these laws mostly originating from 19th century British colonialism.<\/p>\n

By speaking on LGBTQ human rights abuses, Obama is \u201cimposing human values, not Western ones,\u201d says Radcliffe. \u201cIt\u2019s possible to respect tradition, while at the same time insisting that everyone \u2014 gay people included \u2014 deserve to be protected from prejudice, violence, and unfair punishment and discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Radcliffe said he believes Obama and other leaders should speak out, as it will \u201copen people\u2019s eyes to the existence of gay Kenyans and the legitimacy of their claim to respect and recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Radcliffe advises prominent individuals to take their lead from members of the local LGBT community \u2013 who are best placed to advise on what interventions are likely to help, and which ones risk making things more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cLGBT activists are too often isolated in their own countries; they need the support of fellow human rights activists, women\u2019s rights activists and others campaigning for social justice. Public opinion tends to change when individual members of the public get to know LGBT individuals and realise they are people too. The government should hasten that process, not obstruct it. \u201d<\/p>\n

Radcliffe notes that \u201cyou can\u2019t encourage change by staying silent.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Stern, \u201cLGBTI Kenyans have been fighting their own heroic struggle for years, but the extremists have seized upon this opportunity to undermine their credibility as Kenyans.\u00a0 All Kenyans, gay and straight, lose when there\u2019s this kind of media spin doctoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stern urged leaders like Obama and the media not to undermine an opportunity to address a spectrum of human rights abuses Kenyans are living with. Instead, she says there should be a focus on concerns which are being left by the wayside, such as the lack of police accountability, abuse by government security forces, abuse of Somali and Muslim communities, and a crackdown on NGOs, among many others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the mechanisms for government accountability are weak, human rights of all stripes will suffer,\u201d says Stern. \u201cKenyan activists of all stripes, including those working on LGBTI rights, are protesting corruption in government.\u00a0 They\u2019ve continued calling for accountability for violence in 2007\/2008 after elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re defending people who\u2019ve been arbitrarily arrested and charged, such as two men in Kwale County being tried under the \u2018unnatural offenses law\u2019. They\u2019ve documented hundreds of extrajudicial killings by police in recent years, and they\u2019ve called for police guilty of violence and theft to be disciplined and prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Human Rights Watch, Kenya<\/em> continues to be plagued by corruption<\/em> at all levels of government with limited accountability.<\/p>\n

For example, although both presidents Kenyatta and Ruto campaigned for elected office on pledges to continue their cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has charged both presidents with crimes against humanity in the past, their campaigns later painted the ICC as a tool of Western imperialism, and encouraged other African leaders to undermine the ICC.<\/p>\n

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