Sexual-minority rights and activism

This chapter offers an overview of the legal, political, and social position of sexual minorities in Kenya. Current developments are illustrated through the lens of public narratives. The chapter provides a comparison between master and counter-narratives. Master narratives rely on cultural scripts of homosexuality being illegal, immoral, and against African values, and are reproduced through religious arguments and performative political spectacles that seek to evoke public emotions in ways that marginalize non-heterosexual individuals. The legitimacy of these claims is contested by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) activists through counter-narratives, which call for the recognition and legal implementation of their rights. The chapter also conveys the ways in which LGBTI activists have made advancements for the recognition of their legal rights in court, particularly through the new Constitution, and for their social rights using both popular and subversive media.

Aesthetics · Constitution · Criminology · Gay rights · Homosexuality · Legitimacy · Lesbian · Narrative · Performative utterance · Political science · Politics · Sexual orientation · Sociology · Transgender · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy