I think the article by Rasna in today’s
Daily Nation (February 10, 2014) should open an important conversation about
the place of basic human rights for gay and lesbian Kenyans among the Human
rights advocates in Kenya. By basic human rights, I mean such basic rights and
freedom such as Right to life, not being subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest, detention or exile, and right
of equal access to public service among others.
While, by default, I tend to support people
closely associated with Human Rights work, I also feel a deep sense of
betrayal, when they; speaking from a position of heteronormative privilege extend/expand
on the stereotypes against gay and lesbian people. In Rasna, article one seems
to get a sense that a lot of money has been poured to spread ‘gayism’ in
Africa, when she says “…Western pro-gay lobbies that have pumped money into
lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender, and intersex (LGBTI in NGO-speak)
communities worldwide.”
This creates the impression that the
current gay & lesbian rights advocacy is driven by need to cash in on the funding
from Western pro-gay lobbies. Yet a closer look at any little funding gay
rights advocacy work is receiving reveals that they are proportionately far less
funded than other Human rights organizations. Moreover they are in fact funded
by the same organization that fund “mainstream” human rights work. And in any
case, is the claim that “funding drives human rights activism” not the same
argument used by detractors of the Civil (evil) Society?
What disappointed the most is her
contextualizing of the Kenyan homosexual human rights debate vis-à-vis Western
gay rights activism, by appealing to Marc Epprecht’s work (A Canadian Scholar, teaching at Queen's University, Canada). Now make no mistake
I respect Marc’s scholarly work very much, and although we have not talked for
years, I very much believe I am still friends with him. Yet, I would rather that Rasna, appeals to Denis
Nzioka, Eric Gitari, and Pouline Kimani's, world views. I believe Marc would
desire nothing less.
As for gay rights activism diverting “attention
from pressing issues such as land grabs, corruption, and inequality,” I
seriously wonder whether sakina and amina in this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7AD1zLyR5k,
would think land grabbing as a priority even as they fight just to survive for
a day. Even for the privileged gays like Binyavanga Wainaina, personal security
remains a challenge – right to life, a right taken for granted by so many
Kenyans, is precarious for gay people.
About stereotypical portrayal of Africa as
being homophobic by the Western media, I wonder whether that is not something
most Africans are proud of. I can only think of a recent exchange between the
Arch-bishop of Canterbury, Justin Cantuar, and
Arch-bishop Eliud Wabukala of Nairobi and the current chair of GAFCON. In his
letter to all Primates of the Anglican Communion, Justin
Cantuar calls for “pastoral support and care of every one worldwide, regardless of sexual orientation.”
But in Response Arch-bishop Wabukala
says that this call “has served to encourage those who want to normalize homosexual lifestyles in Africa and has fueled prejudice against African Anglicans.” I really do not think one has to be a ‘Western Journalist’ to
assume that being perceived as homophobic is not a tag/stereotype that is
celebrated by many Africans. Moreover, for most African, being homophobic is
not perceived as being backward, but rather, it’s seen as being ethically and
morally superior.
Lastly, it is helpful to add, that for many
gay and lesbian Kenyans, and the issues they would hope the whole of the entire
human rights community focused on include; commonality of violence, stigma and
discrimination, especially as they seek public services and inability to access
justice and redress due to their criminalization.
It is unlikely that any Human Rights
Advocate will be judged harshly by God, because they condemned violence against
gay and lesbian people, or because they said their criminalization unfairly obstructs
their ability to access public services such as health and justice. Perhaps it
is time the Kenyan Human Rights ‘community’ discussed the extent to which they
can support Universal Human Rights in reference to gay and lesbian Kenyans.
