Home » Sexual Diversity: the Kenyan Reality
“The cultural, religious and ethnic dynamics around the subject of homosexuality continue to create controversy in the legal and political spheres of Kenya. To be homosexual is still identified as unnatural, ungodly, a taboo while stigmatisation and hostility persist,” interview with the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya. The GTZ health sector programme in Kenya has recently partnered with the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) in the production of a short video which gives a snap-shot of the current situation of gay people in Kenya as well as challenges faced in society-see http://www.gtz.de/en/themen/soziale-entwicklung/hiv-aids/31965.htm). The key challenges highlighted in the video include hostility towards homosexuals and stimatisation, increasing threats of physical attack, discrimination in accessing reproductive health services, the challenge of HIV/AIDS among others. The video was presented at the Eschborn Dialogue (see details of the Dialogue- http://www.gtzkenyahealth.com/blog3/?p=4657) during a workshop on sexual diversity led by the German BACKUP Initiative as part of the discussion forum ” The power of difference: how diversity fuels social development”. The theme ‘diversity’ cuts across the 4-minute video and human rights for all is the key message.
The GTZ Health Sector Programme in Kenya partners with GALCK in the area of sexual and reproductive health. This is based on its its human rights based approach to programming, in which the Programme targets sexual minorities such as LGBTI and Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in its sexual and reproductive health interventions. The programme has supported GALCK to develop a strategic plan addressing the needs of its members and defining its methodology and action areas for human and health rights advocacy for the LGBTI community.
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