Not if you are Black - Kenyan MPs Say! IDAHOT

I want to write about an experience that is all too common in Kenya and I believe other parts of Africa as well. This is racism against our very own people. Our very own people give preferential treatment to white people, and crappy treatment to our very own. In fact, as I was rushing to check in at the JKIA to get some time to write this piece, David, a KQ staffer not only had to scan my Swiss visa, but also had to use a magnifying glass to check for God knows what; all the while letting white people by with the widest smile his face could muster. Any Kenyan who frequents any of our Malls or major hotels knows of this experience all too well.

But why blame ordinary Kenyans who discriminate against their fellow black Kenyans while the Parliament of the Republic of Kenya has codified this practice into law. Of course not too directly – that would have been against the Bill of Rights in the “new” Constitution.  If you doubt me, let’s take a look at the Marriage Act recently signed into law by the President. This law essentially codifies what every “gate-keeper” does daily – the practice of discriminating our very own, while giving preferential treatment to other people on account of their race. Yet for Parliament to do this is a clear demonstration of how deeply we have internalized racism against our very own!

If you doubt me, you can download the Marriage Bill, (but note article 58 was deleted in the final version). I wish to draw your attention to section/article 10 of this law which deals with “Prohibited marriage relationships” and 37 that deals with “Civil marriages in foreign countries.” Notice that gay marriages are not part of the prohibited relationships, and notice also that the Government of Kenya will recognize as valid all civil marriages as long as they are in accordance with the laws of the country that they are contracted in. But notice also the only claw back on a possible gay marriage is that if any of the parties to the marriage contract is domiciled in Kenya. 

One could well argue that if two black gays are holders of a Dutch, British or Norwegian Nationalities and are married in countries that recognize gay marriages, then the Government of Kenya would recognize their marriage. While if two white gays holders of Kenyan passports attempted a gay marriage, such marriage would not be recognized as valid. This is because only Kenyans are required to have “capacity to marry” under the Kenyan law, which requires that parties to a marriage be of opposite sex.  But what are the odds of having a black gay couple of Dutch/British/Norwegian Nationality and a white gay couple of Kenyan Nationality? 

How is this different from what the watch man at the Junction/Galleria/Westgate Mall does, by only casually checking a white patron, (if at all), and thoroughly checking a black Kenyan, even a Member of Parliament for “Bombs”?

You may say that Kenyans (Africans) are opposed to gay marriages, but is that truly the case? Is it not the case that in fact what they are opposed to is black gay Kenyans marrying – but for the Mzungu’s its ok. Is that not the reason why, our Marriage law now recognizes “Mzungu” gay marriages but not “black Kenyan” gay marriages? 

Can our Parliamentarians have any moral authority to complaint about racism, while their actions prove that they are like the rest of us? They too drink from the pool of “internalized racism”!

Now my “White” friend Ryan, wanted me to write about IDAHOT – which is celebrated on 17^th of May. IDAHOT stands for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.  But I do not think majority of Kenyans including members of Parliament are Homophobic or Transphobic. When Ryan lived with me for 3 months in Rongai – he did not hide his sexual orientation from anyone. Yes, even in the matatu guys on route 125 & 126 – many of the conductors and drivers knew it, and did not mind him. Why, because he is white! Yes, he even got invited to many dinners by the socialites in Kenya and his sexuality was not a problem. 

So clearly my friends, our problem has nothing to do with homophobia or transphobia, it’s just that we hate ourselves so much. What we hate even more are people who remind us of characteristics we have learnt to associate with being black. Two examples will suffice; poverty – we hate and discriminate against the poor “they embarrass us” we say! Then there is Powerlessness – so we hate and discriminate against women, and that is why we hate even more, men who supposedly assume feminine roles; how dare they? What is their problem, as one commenter in this article [link] in a Ugandan paper said, “what do homosexuals look for in the exhaust pipes” – notice the metaphor of gay sexuality only assumes penetration hence gay sex cannot be about lesbian women – after all, we have no problem women being women!

As we celebrate IDAHOT this year, let us seriously think about our internalized self-hate! I honestly would hope that our parliaments in Africa would pass laws that affirm and reassure our confidence in ourselves (not those anti-white rhetoric so characteristic of our leaders such as Mugabe – which by the way none of them believes in), but rather a deep felt genuine commitment to affirm the human value in each and every one of us regardless of our personal attributes! Only then can IDAHOT, The day of the African Child, on the 16^th of June, Mashujaa day, Hero’s days etc., can have any meaning for us in Africa. 

To motivate people to action and activism, this is about people keeping the spirit of our Independence struggle alive. Our parents fought for independence, but we are now selling it out – in the name of moral arguments. As President Kenyatta said, “When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible.” Religion and morality are important values, but let us NOT devalue the dignity of anyone person on basis of religion or morality. 

To do so would be to repeat the mistakes we did in history. I welcome all of us especially our leaders, to affirm our dignity. It is a shame that our parliamentarians, think differently of White gay people than they do of us, as Africans! As citizens of Kenya and Africa, let us take a different route.