Kenya: Group Launches Case Seeking to Decriminalize Gay Sex

A Kenyan rights group says it is going to court to decriminalize gay sexual relations between consenting adults.

The Kenyan National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said in a statement Friday that the case, which challenges the constitutionality of certain sections of the penal code, will be heard by the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court in the capital, Nairobi.

The group's statement said the law "stands in stark contrast to the Kenyan constitutional values of democracy, equality and the rule of law."

That group last year won a case in which a panel of judges, rejecting religious and moral arguments, ordered a government agency to register the group.

The law prescribes a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment for consensual gay sex among adults.