In December 2021, the Education Cabinet Secretary made comments giving directives to headteachers in boarding schools to remove all LGBTIQ+ learners to day schools. This petition seeks an audience with the CS to demand security for queer learners.
The comments made by the Education Cabinet Secretary are harmful as they sexualize children and also deny these children an opportunity to acquire the best levels of education in institutions of choice. These comments also violate children’s right to safety and protection.
Sending learners perceived to be LGBT+ to day schools destabilizes their education. It also puts them at risk of being disowned by their families, and/or attacks from homophobic members of the public.
The penal code of the Kenyan constitution article 162 and 165 criminalizes same-sex intimacy. And while there are petitions and court cases underway to correct that, this penal code continues to put in harm's way the lives of every LGBTIQ+ person in Kenya. With this directive by the Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, the harm has trickled down to children.
This is to call on all the allies from Kenya and across the world, media houses, and individuals from different walks of life to join us in signing this petition that will guarantee safety for kids in Kenya.
