Saturday 11 June 2011

Gay Kenyans launch online forum


Two of the site's contributors Kate Kamunde (r) said she would write a story about coming out for the site

Related Stories

A website for gay Kenyans has been launched in the capital, Nairobi, to help the small openly homosexual community cope with discrimination.
The Freedom In Speech site would help gay people end their isolation by discussing their lives and the abuse they face, the founders told the BBC.
It would also create a forum to challenge homophobic politicians and religious leaders, they said.
Homosexual acts are illegal in deeply conservative Kenya.
David Wambua, a writer for the site, said it would contain "heart-wrenching stories" of the lives of gay Kenyans.
"I guess it will be personal stories of growing up - of conflicts with one's sexuality - of living in a family which is not accepting of who you are," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
He said the rights of gay people should be respected in Kenya.

Case study

A gay Kenyan's story for the new website:
"As I strolled to the shop with my friend little did we know what awaited us. When we go to there we didn't think much of the group of men who were seated across the road.
'Why do you pretend to be men yet you are girls,' one of them angrily asked as he pushed me.
'Fight with us because you pretend you know how to fight. Fight like a man,' another said.
Some of the gang members then hit me, abused me and tore my clothes, while others shouted: 'Today, you will know how to live with men.'
Even as they pushed me to the ground, I picked myself up because I was determined to go down fighting.
With my clothes torn and covered in blood, I feared the gang would carry out its threat to rape me to 'make feel like a woman'."
"If the human rights of gays are affected, we speak out," Mr Wambua said.
Kate Kamunde said she intended to use the site to encourage other gay people to disclose their sexual orientation.
"We have very many people who are still struggling to come out, so I'll first do a 'coming out' story," she said.
Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga stirred controversy last year when he said homosexuality would not be tolerated in the country.
Gay and lesbian people risk a jail-term of up to 10 years if they are convicted of homosexual acts.
Homosexuality is a criminal offence in many African states.
In Uganda, the government considered passing a law that would have imposed the death sentence on gay people, sparking an international outcry.
In Malawi, a gay couple were jailed last year.
President Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned them after strong protests from donor countries, including the US and UK.
He had previously denounced homosexuality as alien to African culture.
Most religious groups in Africa are also strongly opposed to homosexuality, equating it to Satanism.

No comments:

Why cows may be hiding something but AI can spot it

  By Chris Baraniuk Technology of Business reporter Published 22 hours ago Share IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Herd animals like...