On Friday, April 24, Kenya’s High Court ruled that LGBT advocacy groups have the right to organize. Many religious officials, including Anglican Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, believe that this ruling threatens the “family unit”organization of Kenyan society:
Every person has the right to freedom of association, which includes the right to form, join or participate in the activities of an association of any kind,” the judges ruled, quoting Article 36 of Kenya’s constitution.
Kenyan laws bans homosexuality, and many clergy regularly preach against it as sin before God. But the ruling means that LGBT Kenyans will have an official platform from which to fight for their rights and freedoms.
“This is what we have been crying for,” said the Rev. Michael Kimindu, a former Anglican priest and now president of Other Sheep-Africa, a gay rights organization. “It is the beginning of the journey towards freedom. We will now start asking: What happens when two people who are gay want to have a baby or want to go to church to marry?”…
Anglican Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, too, was troubled by the ruling, saying Kenyan society is organized around “family units,” not gay rights groups.
“The judgment was made with very narrow considerations and it is not only against Christianity, but also against Muslims’ teachings and traditions,” said Wabukala, who leads Kenya’s 4.5 million Anglican Christians, the country’s largest Protestant denomination.
The Daily Nation reports
Dr Wabukala urged the Registrar of Societies not to honour the court order requiring the government to allow for registration of an umbrella organisation for gays and lesbians.
Posted by Weston Matthews