Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya? Tell that to the birds

I have seen a video of Anglican Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit doing rounds on social media how he called Chief Justice Martha Koome and asked her why the Supreme Court passed a judgment allowing homosexuals to register an association in Kenya, yet homosexuality is illegal in Kenya. The good bishop isn’t the only one not getting the issue right.

But lemmi clear the air first. I’m not an homosexual and I’m opposed to homosexuality because I believe it is unnatural.

Back to the issue. What is illegal in Kenya is homosexual acts, not homosexuality. This sounds like a minor difference. But when it comes to moral matters, this is a huge difference. Lemmi break it down.

Preaching on the temptations of Jesus in the desert, a priest asked: are temptations bad? The answer is temptations are morally neutral. In other words, temptations are neither good nor bad. Failing to temptations is what is bad. And overcoming temptations is good.

Homosexuals are people attracted to people of the same sex, just as heterosexuals are attracted to people of opposite sex. Kenyan culture has been prudish so people don’t usually talk about their sexual attractions. But it isn’t a crime for an heterosexual to feel attracted to a member of the opposite sex. That is heterosexuality.

Homosexuals on the other hand are attracted to a member of their sex. Mere attraction that is having sexual feelings for a member of your sex isn’t criminal in Kenya.

Same applies to homosexual attractions.

Section 162 of the Penal Code states, any person who—

(a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or

(c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature,

is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.

Section 162 only criminalises homosexual acts. It doesn’t criminalise feelings or mere attraction which is what homosexuality is.

Jesus defeated the devil because he overcame temptations. On the other hand, Eve failed because she fell when she was tempted.

Explaining the sixth commandment that says thou shall not commit adultery, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that, “homosexual persons are called to chastity. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

In other words, the church is saying same sex attractions are not sinful. What is sinful is engaging in homosexual acts. This is the same standard used when talking about heterosexual attractions.

Anyway, the risk I find with insisting that homosexuality is illegal in Kenya is that we might be falling into the trap of the homosexual lobby group. The lobby is well organized and well-funded. It not only won the case against the NGO Co-ordination Board at the Supreme Court. It also won the same case government at the court of appeal, and at the high court.

In this our Kenya, there is an organization called Coalition for Violence Against Women (COVAW). True story! To me, it sounds like it advocates for violence against women. But its aims are the exact opposite of that. Maybe a homosexuals NGO would be a support group like COVAW.