Kenya's anti-gay bill proposes 50-year jail term

A proposed anti-gay bill in Kenya wants gays and lesbians jailed for 50 years for non-consensual sex.

Dubbed the Family Protection Bill 2023, the draft law sponsored by Homa Bay Town legislator Peter Kaluma, is recommending a ban on homosexuality, same-sex unions and any LGBTQ activities and campaigns.

It also seeks to prohibit gay parades, assemblies and marches on streets, and cross-dressing in public.

“A person who engages in sexual act with a person of the same sex without the consent of the other person shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years and not exceeding 50 years,” says the bill.

Owners of premises used for same-sex relations will pay a fine of $14,000 (£11,000) or face a jail term of seven years if the bill goes through.

Last week, clerics and some civil society organisation groups held anti-LGBTQ protests in the coastal city of Mombasa.

This followed a re-enforcement by Kenya’s Supreme Court of a decision in mid-September to allow the registration of LGBTQ non-governmental organisations.

Kenya’s NGO Coordinating Board had declined to register the National Gay and Lesbian Rights Commission, saying it “promotes same-sex behaviour”, dragging the case for a decade.

The Supreme Court early this year deemed the move discriminatory and unconstitutional hence allowing LGBTQ organisations to register in a landmark ruling.