Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation

🏳️‍🌈 CMRSL is focused on reducing discrimination and violence against GSM persons through legal representation, advocacy and civil education.

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

For LGBTQ+ persons , a post can become a threat. Hate speech fuels violence. #KenSafeSpace, we brought their digital realities into 🇰🇪’s digital rights & online safety conversations, ensuring their voices informed discussions on safer digital spaces & content moderation.

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

Honoured to join @anticorruption and fellow stakeholders in commemorating #WorldWhistleblowerDay, recognizing the courage of those who dare to speak truth to power in pursuit of accountability and justice.

[Malindi Desire CBO @DesireMalindi]

And this is how we wrapped up the final day of the #9thRHNKScientificConference.

Following a successful oral presentation at the conference, our abstract sparked great interest & engaging discussions among diverse participants from Africa & beyond.
#RHNKPanAfricaConference2026

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

Knock knock!

#lgbtq #pridemonth

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

CMRSL joins in the commemoration of Kenya Madaraka Day. We’re reminded that democracy & liberation must include everyone - esp those pushed to the margins. Human rights aren’t selective. Freedom can’t be partial.

Happy Madaraka Day.
#MadarakaDay #FreedomForAll #LGBTQRights

[The Women’s Collective Kenya @WomenCo_KE]

#EndFemicide March ongoing in Nairobi

[Jinsiangu @Jinsiangu]

We thank you to our partners, allies, stakeholders, and community members who joined us for the launch of the COUNT ME IN Study: Assessing Civil Registration Systems for Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons in Kenya.
#CivilRegistration #ITGNCRights

[galck+ @galckplus]

Happy pride month! 🇰🇪🏳️‍🌈

To our community: may your joy be loud, your people be close, and your pride be yours.

#galckAt20 #HereForAll #HapaKwaWote

[Jinsiangu @Jinsiangu]

Thank you @KTNNewsKE for highlighting this very important win for trans persons in Kenya. High Court Judge, Justice Bahati Mwamuye ruled that Kenyan law does not explicitly prohibit the amendment of sex or gender markers on official documents.

Video Credit: KTN Kenya

[KHRC @thekhrc]

#PressStatement
KHRC welcomes today’s court decision affirming that existing laws governing civil registration do not expressly prohibit the consideration of applications to amend sex or gender markers.

[Adrian King (he/him) @AdrianMuchugu]

The courts have again affirmed what we already know transgender persons deserve equality, privacy and fair administrative action and that our constitutional rights do not disappear because the state has failed to create policy or legislation to cater for this. Viva my transblings

[Jinsiangu @Jinsiangu]

Congratulations to Audrey Mbugua, our very own dearly departed Thiaya Kaku and all transgender persons in Kenya on this landmark victory for transgender rights! #TransRightsAreHumanRights

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

For many transgender persons , this ruling is more than a legal decision — it is a moment of being seen. Being able to amend sex /gender marker speaks dignity, safety, and moving through everyday life without constant questioning, exposure, or exclusion.

[galck+ @galckplus]

Happy IDAHOBIT 🇰🇪🏳️‍🌈

This year’s theme, “At the Heart of Democracy,” is a reminder that queer people are not asking to be included in democracy, we’ve always been at the center of it.

We vote. We organize. We resist. We imagine better futures.

[Initiative For Equality & Non Discrimination-INEND @INENDorg]

INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA, BIPHOBIA, INTERPHOBIA, AND TRANSPHOBIA: LGBTIQ+ AT THE HEART OF DEMOCRACY IN KENYA.

Initiative for Equality and Non Discrimination (INEND) IDAHOBIT Statement 2026 | May 17, 2026
This year’s International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) theme, “At The Heart Of Democracies,” arrives amid global democratic backsliding. Celebrated every year since 2005, the day marks the anniversary of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.

Globally, 62 countries restrict freedom of expression on sexual diversity, and while 63 UN states protect against orientation-based hate crimes, only 40 extend this to gender identity. Foreign aid cuts in 2025 have further crippled civil society as Anti-Gender and Anti-LGBTQ+ movements intensify. In Africa, despite ACHPR Resolution 275 urging protection from violence, implementation remains stagnant, and Kenya has previously rejected Universal Periodic Review recommendations for decriminalisation. Politicians in at least 51 countries have been observed to weaponise homophobic rhetoric as an electoral strategy, including Kenya.

While the Kenyan 2010 Constitution (Articles 10,27,28) guarantees equality, non-discrimination, and dignity with landmark rulings such as NGOs Co-ordination Board v EG (2023), affirming freedom of association; colonial-era Penal Code Sections 162 (a,b) and 165 still criminalise adult consensual same-sex relations, enabling institutionalised harassment, stigma, and discrimination. Students still face expulsion and forced conversion practices in religious-sponsored schools despite the Basic Education Act 2013, integrated clinics face threats of closure despite protections in the Health Act, while law enforcement perpetuates violence rather than protecting human rights, highlighting systemic failure.

“Democracy cannot be truly inclusive if it ignores or sidelines those most marginalized.”  Dr. Willy Mutunga, Former Chief Justice

Kenya stands at a critical juncture as the 2027 elections approach. While the LGBTIQ+ community has shown immense resilience, claiming citizenship should not come at the cost of violence.
Queering The Ballot II campaign claims the time for inclusion is now.
Democracy demands it. Justice requires it. Our Constitution guarantees it.

#IDAHOBIT2026 #QueeringTheBallot #OurVoteOurFuture

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

2026 #idahobit “at the heart of democracy”, is a reminder that conversations about democracy & LGBTQ+ human rights is not abstract. A democracy can’t claim to protect human rights while some people are denied safety, dignity & freedom.
#IDAHOBIT2026 #lgbtqrightsarehumanrights

[@Defenders Coalition 🇰🇪 @DefendersKE]

Our #WCW today is Maxie Daniel, @maxiedanielonthepen, a poet and author who uses art to promote and educate communities on human rights in Kisumu County.

Read more about Maxie’s human rights work here: https://t.co/fCqpvsPo7g

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

RT @DefendersKE: In the ongoing engagements at the #ACHPR87OS 87th Ordinary Session the @achpr_cadhp, Defenders Coalition submitted its ora…

[@Defenders Coalition 🇰🇪 @DefendersKE]

Happy Labour Day to all human rights defenders, as you continue to work towards impacting your communities positively through your diverse ways.

#LabourDay2026

[Centre For Minority Rights & Strategic Litigation @CMRSLTrust]

Today we celebrate and acknowledge the strength, resilience, and dignity of workers everywhere. May we continue to stand for fair labor, safe workplaces, and equal opportunities for all—leaving no one behind.

#may1st #labourday #internationalworkersday