Kenyan Catholic Bishops Want Supreme Court to Overturn Its Ruling on LGBTQ

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has appealed to the Supreme Court to rescind its ruling allowing the registration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) lobby groups.

The bishops condemned the ruling, saying it promotes homosexuality, which is against the constitution and moral values of the people of Kenya.

“We fault the determination of the Supreme Court of Kenya and declare it as an effort towards the promotion of the LGBTQ ideology which seeks to destroy life. It is an attack on humanity,” KCCB said in a statement on Friday.

"This ideology is an attempt to undermine the family and cultural values which are rooted in the very nature of humankind. It also undermines the dignity of life which is at the core of our beliefs as a nation,” it added.

The Catholic bishops called upon Kenyans to stand firm against the promotion of same-sex relationships as they seek to destroy family values and Christian dignity.

The clerics rallied institutions and organizations to join the push for a review of the ruling.

“We insist that the Supreme Court of Kenya reviews this ruling, and determine that an association that seeks the promotion of illegal and immoral actions be overturned,” they added.

In a ruling dated February 23rd, the Supreme Court stated that denying LGBTQ persons the right to register as an NGO was discriminatory and against the constitution, which grants every individual the right to freedom of association.

“The Court determined that the use of the word “sex” under Article 27(4) does not connote the act of sex per se but refers to the sexual orientation of any gender, whether heterosexual, lesbian, gay, intersex, or otherwise. The court held that the word “including” under the same Article is not exhaustive, but only illustrative and would also comprise “freedom from discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation,” the Supreme Court judgement reads in part.