Date set for landmark gay sex ruling

The verdict in a landmark case addressing the decriminalisation of gay sex will be delivered by the Kenyan High Court on 26 April. A report on the African Independent site notes that the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is one of the groups that petitioned the court to repeal sections of a colonial-era Penal Code, which it says violate constitutional rights to equality, dignity and privacy. LGBT campaigners, Christian and Muslim groups and the office of the Attorney-General testified at last month’s hearing. The government argued that the decriminalisation of gay sex would lead to the legalisation of same-sex marriages, which is not allowed anywhere on the continent apart from South Africa.