48-22 LGBTQI+ in Kenya … Supreme Court victory is both a win and a loss

After ten years of appeals, Kenya’s Supreme Court ruled in February 2023 that organizations with words like lesbian and gay in the title are allowed to register as NGOs. However,  same-sex sexual relations have been illegal since the British occupation. This win has set off a frightening backlash against already marginalized sexual minorities. Activist and advocate Esther Nalima gives a detailed portrait of the hazards for such individuals. She says people have a right to express their feelings but not when it harms others’ rights, and that holy books don’t only talk about sex they talk about love. Clips from the banned lesbian film Rafiki are included.

Esther Nelima is a legal officer and health advocate with the HIV & AIDS people Alliance of Kenya, and a practitioner of the Sex Rights Africa methodology for educating leaders and the public to be accountable for their attitudes around sexual health.

Interview by Diana Wanyonyi. Film clips are from the trailer for Rafiki, found on the Toronto International Film Festival website. WINGS series producer, Frieda Werden.