Kenya's High Court has upheld laws that
criminalize sex between two people of the same sex.
A three-judge panel ruled Friday that
the colonial era laws did not target Kenya's LGBT community, NPR
reported.
The laws being considered penalize
“carnal knowledge … against the order of nature” with up to 14
years in prison and “indecent practices between males” with up to
five years.
Kenya gained its independence from
Britain in 1963.
Human Rights Watch said that the laws
have been used to justify discrimination and violence against the
LGBT community. The group said that the laws were rarely enforced.
Kenyan LGBT rights advocates had hoped
that the judges would strike down the laws as unconstitutional. They
vowed to appeal Friday's ruling.
Speaking with The Associated Press,
Eric Gitari, who with the support of LGBT rights groups filed the
case challenging the laws, said: “What will happen is that more and
more people are going to closet themselves, they are going to live in
shame and fear.”