Religious leaders drawn from Muslim and Christian fraternities on Thursday signed a petition urging Parliament to investigate the alleged rise of the LGBTQ agenda in the country.
Senior members of the clergy from the Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical churches as well as leaders from various Muslim organisations were present during the event at Sarova Panafric Hotel.
The petition comes barely a year after the religious leaders under the Church and Clergy Association of Kenya (CCAK) asked President William Ruto to make a clear stand on same-sex unions known.
The religious leaders also endorsed the Family Protection Bill sponsored by Homa Bay Town Member of Parliament, Peter Kaluma.
Last year, Bishop Hudson Ndeda, without mincing his words said that the church supports the proposition of Kaluma and urged him to proceed without fear or favour.
“The entire church is committedly behind Kaluma’s Bill which intends to advance the provisions of Article 45 of the constitution that provides for the protection of the family, prohibition and criminalization of homosexuality, same-sex marriages, unnatural sexual acts and related activities which run counter to public morality,” he said.
The clergymen asserted that many times they have been accused of not speaking but when they do, their voices are not heard or publicised. For this reason, they declared their support for Kaluma’s bill.
The petition that was signed by representatives drawn from over 79 governmental and religious groups stated that there’s a scheme by proponents of LGBTQ rights to have laws against homosexuality pronounced unconstitutional.
“We have witnessed persistent, well-orchestrated and well-financed attempts by persons identifying themselves as representing the LGBTQ community to have laws prohibiting homosexuality declared unconstitutional. They have filed numerous cases and petitions in our courts,” the petition reads in part.
The religious leaders also raised concerns over the alleged infiltration of the LGBTQ agenda in the Kenyan curriculum.
“A specific example is one of the grade 4 books that has overtones of gay relationships,’’ the petition read.
The petitioners want Parliament to confirm the measures they have taken on the infiltration of the LGBTQ agenda into the curriculum, the proliferation of foreign actor funding and lobbying on LGBTQ matters and the enforcement of the penal code provisions.