GAY AND LESBIAN COALITION OF KENYA

I was honoured and humbled to be a part of a most unique strategic thinking process for one of GALCK’s key development partner last week. Not only was this a reflective time for looking back at where the East African LGBTI movement has come from, but we were together able to analyse the current state of the movement and create possibilities of what lies ahead in the movement’s future. I met, interacted with, learnt from and exchanged contacts with both seasoned activists from the EAC region, some of whom I had only heard or read about, as well as a relatively new crop of activists and organizations who are also doing exploits for the LGBTI communities in their respective countries.

Being the reflective kind, I am still chewing on a lot from this process, but I am particularly interested to narrow down on a few pragmatic thoughts especially at this time of galvanizing to map out the future of LGBTI organizing in Kenya. Chief amongst these is the fact that movement building for life and death matters is never a walk in the park. A lot of people tend to think that LGBTI Organizing (difficult as it is) is equivalent to LGBTI movement building. Well, the two can feed on each other, yet they have been mutually exclusive, and at times the former has worked for the detriment of the latter.

Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

The penal code criminalizes “carnal knowledge against the order of nature,” which is interpreted to prohibit consensual same-sex sexual activity and specifies a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment. A separate statute specifically criminalizes sex between men and specifies a maximum penalty of 21 years’ imprisonment. Police detained persons under these laws, particularly suspected sex workers, but released them shortly afterward. There were no reported prosecutions of individuals for same-sex sexual activity during the year.

Since its inception in 2006, The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK)has gone through various phases of growth and development marked by various challenges and numerous triumphs alike.

The second half of 2012 is one that is very crucial in the life and journey of GALCK. We have been setting in place and are now rolling out an intense process, working with its existing and new member organizations, pulling ideas from those who have been there before, critics and fans alike, bringing together activists in the larger social justice movement and consulting widely to map out the future of LGBTI organizing in Kenya.

July through to December 2012 is an opportune time at GALCK to reflect on who we are, what we stand for, and where we are going. This is a time we will be answering the crucial questions: If GALCK is a solution, what is the problem? If GALCK can respond to a problem, then what solutions should we offer? This will not only be a great time of self-reflection, but also of identity forming, of visioning and of strategic thinking and strategic positioning.

This will not be a conventional strategic planning process, but then again, our work is not. We will be holding issue based, needs based conversations with members of the LGBTI community in Kenya for what their coalition will look like in years ahead. From the constellation of what we collect from the community that we serve, we will engage also with representatives of LGBTI groups from different parts of the country in furthering these discussions. Besides that, the process will also explore issues of governance models, new group adoption and representations within the coalition, and the primary mandate(s) of this coalition.

This will certainly be an exciting and rewarding process, yet again also a surgical one. We will also be reflecting critically on what has not been working well, and take lessons in on where we will need to really improve on, and the kinds of changes that we will need to make to remain a relevant solution provider to our constituencies.

Expect to see a request for your contribution to this process at different times.

GALCK Team Transition Management

Even as GALCK undertakes this process of mapping out the future of LGBTI organizing in Kenya, as a body, GALCK is run by a board and secretariat constituted of