Kenya, along with Tanzania and South Sudan, is considering enacting anti-LGBT laws similar to Uganda's recently passed draconian legislation, punishing gay sex with imprisonment and even death in some cases.
Similar moves are also afoot in Tanzania and South Sudan, parliamentarians in those nations told Reuters, revealing for the first time a broad anti-LGBT legislative drive across East Africa. Some regional lawmakers frame the issue as an almost existential battle to save African values and sovereignty, which they say have been battered by Western pressure to capitulate on gay rights.
Spokespeople for the Kenyan presidency and government didn't respond to requests for comment about the proposed bill. Asked whether she had specific punishments in mind, Ngonyani said she would not share anything until she was advised by legal experts. The proposed Kenyan law reflects a significant degree of agreement and coordination on anti-gay policies between lawmakers across the region, according to the draft of the bill as well as Reuters interviews with the Kenyan MPs and activists.
He said the proposed law was influenced by discussions at a conference organized by Ugandan lawmakers in March in the city of Entebbe where he said parliamentarians from several African nations discussed strengthening anti-LGBT laws. The proposed law would signal the death knell for Kenya's status as a place of relative refuge for gay people in East Africa as the only country in the region to host refugees fleeing persecution because they are LGBT.
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