There is a quiet air of excitement at the offices of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), as the countdown draws closer to Friday when a much-awaited ruling by Kenya’s High Court could make history.
The charity has fought hundreds of cases of abuse against sexual minorities in Kenya’s courts, but the verdict on whether to scrap British colonial-era laws criminalizing gay sex is undoubtedly their most eagerly anticipated case.
“We are excited and cautiously optimistic but optimistic nonetheless,” Lelei Cheruto from NGLHRC, one of the groups petitioning the court to decriminalize gay sex, told Reuters.
“A positive ruling will mean sexual minorities in Kenya will have the freedom to exist. It will be a step towards their inclusion in society. We feel we have a very solid case.”
Homosexuality is taboo in the East African nation and persecution of sexual minorities is rife. Under sections of Kenya’s penal code, gay sex or “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
Campaigners say the laws have long promoted homophobia in the largely conservative Christian country and are used daily to persecute and discriminate against sexual minorities.
They face prejudice in getting jobs, renting housing or seeking medical care or education.
Hate crimes like blackmail, extortion, physical and sexual assault are common but most are too fearful to go to the police due to their sexual orientation, say rights groups.
A positive judgment would not only give rights and dignity to sexual minorities in Kenya, say campaigners, but will inject impetus into battles being waged by persecuted LGBT people across Africa.
“People across the continent are watching the Kenyan case very closely,” said Anthony Oluoch from Pan Africa ILGA, a global charity advocating for the rights of sexual minorities.
“There are laws in many African countries that criminalize same-sex relationships, so if we get a positive ruling in Kenya it will give hope to the continent.”
Same-sex relationships are a crime in more than 70 countries around the world, almost half of them in Africa. South Africa is the only African nation to have legalized gay marriage.
The law against gay sex in Kenya sections 162 and 165 was introduced during British rule more than 120 years ago.
Same-sex relationships are considered taboo and are a crime across most of the continent, with punishments ranging from imprisonment to death.
A 2017 report by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) found 33 African countries, out of a total of 54, criminalize same-sex relations.
The persecution of LGBT Africans is also widespread, with sexual minorities routinely being abused, blackmailed, assaulted by mobs, or even raped by police or vigilantes.