The challenge against the regressive 2019 decision to continue the ban on same-sex intimacy in Kenya has moved closer to review by the Court of Appeal later this year.
In May 2019, the High Court of Kenya in Nairobi issued a devastating ruling upholding the country’s longstanding criminalisation of homosexuality.
Kenya’s Penal Code is a holdover from the colonial era and, like many former British colonies, retains anti-buggery laws that make vague reference to “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” and “gross indecency”.
Under these provisions, such acts are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Appeal Process Advances
The Kenyan National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) appealed the 2019 decision, and the case has slowly worked its way through the Kenyan legal system.
On 4 February, the Court of Appeal held the first substantive hearing of the appeal, which challenges the constitutionality of sections 162(a) and (c), 163, and 165 of Kenya’s Penal Code.
NGLHRC revealed that while the court did not hear the merits of the case, it directed that the matter be listed for a full-day hearing in May 2026. The exact date will be announced.
“We await further directions from the Court and remain committed to this process and our fight for equality for all,” said NGLHRC in a statement.
“We affirm our belief that the Constitution of Kenya, its institutions, and stay guided by our collective dream of a universe of equals,” the organisation added.
Renewed Hope for LGBTQ+ Community
The possibility that the appeal will be heard in May provides hope for the country’s LGBTQ+ community, which continues to face discrimination, arrest, and abuse fuelled by the ongoing criminalisation of homosexuality.
Local LGBTQ+ group GALCK+ welcomed the development, asserting that the case “is about dignity, safety, and equality” and that “it asks whether the Constitution protects all Kenyans.”
