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For LGBT people, times are tough in Africa. 31 out of the 54 countries on the continent criminalize same-sex behavior, violent hate crimes are on the rise, and foreign aid has been disrupted. As an African journalist, the view from the ground is bleak. But anti-LGBT governments and activists are not satisfied. They are organizing, fundraising, and lobbying hard to crack down on the LGBT community with ever more draconian laws.

Kenya recently held the second Pan-African Conference on Family Values, an annual convention on orthodox religious and cultural beliefs. Organized by the Africa Christian Professionals Forum (ACPF), the conference featured a number of ultra-conservative guest speakers who poured fuel on the homophobic sentiments raging across the continent. The lineup included government officials such as the Kenyan Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau, advocate of the Kenyan High Court Charles Kanjama, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs at Family Research Council Travis Weber, and President of Family Watch International Sharon Slater. Their vision for Africa was as clear as it was grim.

During the conference, Kenyan legislator Peter Kaluma, representing the National Assembly Speaker Dr. Moses Wetang’ula, urged African nations to stand together in defending the traditional family unit from growing ideological threats such as abortion and LGBT rights:

"The family is the cradle where values are instilled, character is shaped, and identity is nurtured. [...] We are living in an age of rapid change, accompanied by unprecedented challenges, but there is hope, our societies still hold fast to principles that are not relics of the past, but pillars of our nations.”

Kaluma sponsored the 2023 “Family Protection Bill” in Kenya, which aims to impose harsher punishments for homosexuality and bisexuality, including the death penalty. At the conference, he affirmed his unwavering commitment to seeing the legislation become law:

"Defending the family unit in Kenya is no easy task. We applaud the organizers of this conference for their courage and persistence. They questioned our push for the Family Protection Bill. I asked them to explain their double standards, given that some of the practices they support abroad are outlawed in their own countries. There is a great deal of hypocrisy. [...] These groups are even recruiting university students.”

LGBT advocates have been vocal in their opposition to the conference and everything it represents. Galck+, a local LGBT organization, criticised the event for pushing the dangerous narrative that only one kind of family is legitimate.

"This is more than a conference, it's a campaign,” said Galck+ in a media brief. “They want laws, education systems, and even personal lives to reflect their ideology."

Youth Empowerment Movement Kenya (Yem Kenya), another LGBT rights group, issued a similar statement of their own: "It is important to support policies and programs that promote the diversity of African families and strengthen families as a safe space for all family members.”

Irũngũ Houghton, Amnesty International Kenya’s executive director, has been another outspoken critic. In 2023, he condemned Kenya’s inaugural Pan-African Conference on Family Values as well as Uganda’s Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty not only for further demonizing sexual minorities and paving the way for harsher restrictions, but also for the unmistakable influence of outside actors: "Ironically, most of the conference keynote speakers are white European and American men, and the sponsors are conservative, evangelical-leaning US-based interests such as Family Watch International, C-Fam, and the Alliance Defending Freedom."

Houghton added a warning about Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, a law that has placed tremendous strain on families with LGBT children or parents and which is now being peddled in Kenya: “Let’s rigorously debate attempts to create a moral panic against any individual or family. Let’s actively contest those who argue hate-based laws will solve the massive problems Kenya’s modern families face. It won't.”

This isn’t the first socially conservative African conference to push for stripping LGBT, women’s rights and sexual freedom using “family values” as a vehicle. As the Ugandan nonprofit Women’s Probono Initiative pointed out:

“The last five years have been marred by sexist narratives on the continent of Africa. [...] The groups and institutions that are behind these conferences are closely tied to the broader political environments characterized by gaps in democracy and political intolerance. This has resulted in constrained civic space."

According to Kenya’s Penal Code 2009, under sections 162, 163, and 165, men and women are prohibited from engaging in same-sex activity. Any person who engages in such “carnal knowledge” (sexual intercourse) “against the order of nature” can be imprisoned for up to 14 years. But the threats LGBT people face don’t only come from the government. Attacks from fellow citizens are not uncommon, from anti-LGBT marches up to deadly violence such as the murder of Edwin Chiloba, a fashion designer and LGBT activist who was found dead in 2023, and Sheila Lumumba, a lesbian killed the year prior.

A 2023 study in Global Public Health on the plight of the LGBT community in 19 of the 47 counties in Kenya found that over half of the respondents interviewed reported physical and verbal harassment. Only a few meager legal provisions exist to safeguard LGBT Kenyans, such as a court ruling upholding the right for LGBT people to merely associate, and the official recognition of persons with intersex conditions. But as the Family Protection Bill looms on the horizon, almost certain to pass, the LGBT community continues to reel in fear.

Despite its hostile social climate, Kenya is home to the United Nations’ Kakuma Refugee Camp, in which refugees from mostly East African countries, including LGBT people, have fled persecution. However, the attitudes that pervade Kenyan culture do not stop at the camp’s border, and Kakuma has been the subject of multiple reports of violent attacks and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bi, and trans people.

The future of LGBT people in Kenya is uncertain, as the appetite among both legislators and civil society to further repress them seems insatiable. To make matters worse, the few nonprofits and advocacy groups helping LGBT people have been thrown into disarray by US President Donald Trump's January 2025 executive order "Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid.” Many of the LGBT organizations in the country were heavily reliant on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has since ceased operations. As a result, with only a few exceptions, Kenyan LGBT groups have either suspended services or are now malfunctioning. Between the rising currents of bigotry at home, the surge of support for the Family Protection Bill, and the drought of foreign aid, LGBT Kenyans are in a precarious position. With more funds, more international attention, a whole lot of fortitude, and some luck, the tide can be turned back. But time is running out.

Published July 24, 2025