Kenya will not allow same-sex marriages, President William Ruto said as he rebuked the East African nation’s Supreme Court for a decision in favor of LGBTQ freedoms.
(Bloomberg) — Kenya will not allow same-sex marriages, President William Ruto said as he rebuked the East African nation’s Supreme Court for a decision in favor of LGBTQ freedoms.
The court last week ruled that a board overseeing non-government organizations was discriminatory when, in a letter of March 2015, it denied an activist the opportunity to register a pro-LGBTQ rights entity. Two of the five judges handling the matter had dissenting opinions. Ruto said he respects the constitution and court rulings but disagrees going against values of Christianity and Islam that allow only heterosexual relationships.
“That one I will not agree,” Ruto said Thursday in the capital, Nairobi. “It will happen elsewhere but it cannot happen in Kenya.”
The penal code of Kenya, where the majority of religious affiliations are Christian and Muslim, outlaws same-sex marriages.
The Supreme Court’s decision can’t be appealed. A group of lawmakers, however, including the opposition’s Peter Kaluma vowed to join with religious groups to petition the full seven-member bench of the top court to review the ruling. The lawmakers are at the same time considering legislation that prohibits registration of pro-LGBTQ groups, Kaluma said in comments broadcast on local television.
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