The date of the ruling will be 22 February 2019.
The High Court in Kenya has announced that it will make its ruling on whether to legalise homosexuality in Kenya on 22 February 2019.
On Thursday, the three judges heard the final parts of evidence in relation to India’s supreme court legalising homosexuality earlier this year. However, Kenya’s attorney general was opposed to the judges hearing the evidence.
Kenya’s National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) who are involved in the case, tweeted out how the presiding judge challenged an attorney’s attempt to disregard the evidence from India. The High Court said that they always cited judgements from other countries in other cases.
Attorney Kanjama urges the court as they consider our registration case not to consider the India Supreme Court.The presiding judge however challenges him saying that they-legal representatives- always cite judgements in other countries so why not this case? #FreedomOfAssociation
— #Repeal162 because #LoveIsHuman (@NGLHRC) October 25, 2018
The case was brought to the Kenyan High Court in January, earlier this year. It came after two men caught having sex in Mombasa were forced to undergo torturous anal examinations. The NGLHRC and one of Kenya’s most powerful and successful lawyers, Senior Counsel Paul Muite, are leading the charge for the decriminalisation.
They’re calling for Sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan Penal code to be repealed, arguing that they are discriminatory and unconstitutional. However, religious groups in America have funded the Kenya Christian Professional Forum who want to make the rules much tougher and for them to explicitly target homosexuality.
Earlier this year, one activist, Denis Nzioka, told Gay Star News: “We really do hope finally for once Kenya may ban arrest and imprisonment based on homosexuality.
“People will be following this in the media, and we can only hope the dialogue is balanced,” he added.
Although it’s not known how the case will turn out, there was a rare win for LGBTQ rights earlier this year as the country’s Court of Appeal ruled that forced anal examinations should be illegal.
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