Freedom in Speech

Written by Admin Tuesday, 13 December 2011 00:00

On Thursday, December 1^st, GALCK celebrated World AIDS Day along with the rest of the planet.  As mentioned earlier, over 40 people spent the afternoon at Nyumbani Children’s Home in Karen.  However, we were also well represented at the National World AIDS Day event in Kisumu on that very same day.  GLACK, Gay Kenya, MWA, ISHTAR and AFRA all sent representatives to join with the Kisumu LGBTI community in ensuring that we were well represented.

After opening the day with a World AIDS Day marathon, people of all ages joined together at one of Kisumu’s finest parks to stand together in their fights against one of Africa’s most dreaded enemies.  Over 50 organizations hosted stands, passing out brochures and distributing condoms and lubricants to visitors, while answering questions about their organizations.  There were also special sections for women’s organizations and new organizations, which included PLUG a new LGBTI group in the area.

According to Anthony Oluch, GALCK’s Legal Officer, a large number of people visited the five tents sponsored by GALCK and its member groups, and there were no incidents of violence or bigotry against any of our organizations.  He added, “The people who came to visit with us were very open-minded.  Many didn’t understand very much about us or about what the LGBTI community does, but they came to learn.”  After handing out large number of condoms and lubricants to their visitors, the five representatives decided they wanted to spend a little extra time helping the community while in Kisumu.  So, they headed on out into town and handed out condoms and lubricants to fishermen and boda boda drivers while having impromptu sessions on safe sex.  World AIDS Day has come to mean so much to LGBTI people all over the world, and we certainly didn’t want to miss a chance to remind Kenyans about our struggles.  Members of the LGBTI community still remain one of the most at risk groups here in Kenya, as we still find ourselves contracting HIV/AIDS at an alarmingly rate.  If we don’t continually remind the rest of Kenya of our plight, we can never expect to receive equality of treatment.

That very night after the festivities, our five representatives climbed aboard the bus heading back to Nairobi.  It may have been a quick 24 hour visit, but these five dedicated and exhausted members surely did their part in representing our community on this international day of respect.