Kemri, clergy now agree on gays in Kenya

Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) have reported a truce with the clergy over HIV research among gays.

A report published by Kemri says there has been a thawing of attitude over homosexuality among the clergy at the Coast, a major win for HIV research.

In 2010, Kemri had been forced to close a HIV research clinic in Mtwapa, Kilifi County, following violent protests by the local community and religious groups.

The groups had opposed operations of the clinic, claiming it was initiating young men into homosexuality and same-sex marriages.

But following intensive engagement with the religious leaders, Kemri says now the clergy are more accepting and supportive of sexuality, sexual identities, and same-sex relations.

The engagements, according to the report, had peaked between June 2015 and October 2016 involving meetings, workshops and online trainings.

Clerics participating in the exercise, the report says, included 138 representatives from six denominations, with 59 Muslim clerics, 30 Anglican Church pastors, 27 Protestant pastors and 14 Kaya elders.

Others were four Seventh Day Adventists pastors and four Catholic priests, while three religious leaders refused to participate.

The Kemri side involved two community liaison officers, two HIV behavioral scientists, and six members from coastal gay community groups.

For their time the participating clergy were paid Sh1,000 a day. The exercise was funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“The religious leaders realised that they have a role to play in facilitating gays’ social acceptance to advance their access to HIV prevention and care,” says the report appearing in the journal of Critical Public Health.

The report says while most of the clerics went into the exercise breathing fire against gays they largely came out a changed people.