April 2015, 7:28 PM | Nick Duffy |
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A pro-gay group in the country, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, has fought a long-running legal battle after being blocked from registering as an NGO – leaving them without a number of legal protections.
The NGLHRC has had its application to register as an NGO blocked five times since 2012 – with a Non-Governmental Organizations Coordination Board finding that the name of the organisation was “unacceptable” as the Kenyan Penal Code criminalises “gay and lesbian liaisons”.
However, the High Court set a ground-breaking precedent in a ruling today, which found that the groups should be permitted – and that popular morality and religion should not be basis for limiting rights in Kenya.