The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community can now go ahead and register their association.
This is after the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court decision that directed the Non-Governmental Organizations Coordination Board register the LGBT as an association.
Court of Appeal judges led by Justice Philip Waki, Asike Makhandia and Martha Koome in their ruling said that all human beings should not be denied their fundamental rights because of how they choose to live their lives.
The court stated that right to associate was not limited to the grounds of sexuality.
“The issue of LGBT is rarely discussed in public. But it cannot be doubted that it is an emotive issue. The reality is that this group does exits and we can no longer deny that. Let it go down that I will not be the first to throw a stone and harm them,” the court heard.
The three judges said that in a society as diverse as Kenya, there is need for tolerance and in any democratic society there will always be a marginalized group.
In dismissing the appeal by the NGO Board for lack of merit, the court noted that LGBT community has a right to freedom of association and there is nothing unlawful and criminal about the objectives of the proposed NGO.
This means that the people registered in the NGO can have their rights fought for and all forms of injustices perpetrated against them can be reported with legal consequences.
This is something they previously didn’t have and it offers a sense of security for the community.
The court of Appeal ruled that there was no connection between activities prohibited in section 162 and 165 of the penal code and the request to register an NGO fighting for gay rights. The sections do not criminalize homosexual identity but only certain acts.
The LGBTQ fraternity is eagerly waiting for the verdict on legalizing their marriage in two months.