A name that was not allowed on the register
Kenya's courts made it clear in 2015: gay men and lesbians may also organise officially.
On 24 April 2015, the High Court in Nairobi delivered a ruling that hardly anyone in Kenya had expected. Three judges decided that the state may not refuse to register an organisation of gay men and lesbians.
The case had been brought by activist Eric Gitari. He wanted to register the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, NGLHRC for short, as a non-governmental organisation. The authority responsible refused. The name was "unacceptable", it said, because the Kenyan penal code criminalised same-sex relationships. These provisions date back to British colonial rule.
The court saw it differently. Same-sex acts may be criminal, but being gay or lesbian is not. And anyone who wants to join with others to represent common concerns is protected by the constitution. Freedom of association applied to every person, and notions of morality could not be used as grounds for restricting fundamental rights. The authority was ordered to register the organisation.
Human Rights Watch spoke of a victory far beyond Kenya, since in many African states LGBT groups fail at exactly this hurdle. Gitari himself saw a historic step towards the participation of sexual and gender minorities in Kenyan democracy.
That did not bring peace, however. The authority appealed. The Court of Appeal upheld the ruling in 2019, and the Supreme Court in February 2023. Even a member of parliament who then demanded a review was turned away. After around ten years of litigation, the matter was finally settled.
The colonial-era penal law was untouched by all this. But the name that had been fought over for so long may since be used quite officially.