Gruesome Murder of Edwin Chiloba Rattles Kenyan LGBTQ+ Community
#156
Welcome to Third Cultured, a newsletter about Queer people in diplomacy, politics, and war from the perspective of Kyle Borland (he/they). My goal is to highlight all the ways today is different (and not so) from yesterday.
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This edition:
Opinion Essay
A List of LGBTQ+ Wins
Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate, Laws & Violence Around the World
Extra Links, Quotes & Gay Shit
Opinion Essay
On January 3, 2023 – Kenyan LGBTQ+ activist and fashionista Edwin Kiprotich Chiloba, 25, was found dead in western Kenya’s Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.
His body was stuffed into a metal box with obvious signs of torture, including strangulation. The box was found by a motorcycle taxi driver who reported seeing a vehicle with no license plates dump the trunk on the side of the road. According to Chiloba’s friend Denis Nzioka, Chiloba had been attacked and assaulted in the past for his activism.
The LGBTQ+ community routinely raises their concerns about rampant violence and discrimination, including 25-year-old Sheila Adhiambo Lumumba, a nonbinary lesbian who was found raped and murdered in their room in central Kenya’s Nyeri county last April. Those aren’t the only two either, according to openDemocracy:
A few weeks later, Rose Mbesa, an intersex person, had been raped and killed in Trans Nzoia county in the west of the country. In 2021, Erica Chandra, a transgender woman, was found murdered in the Westlands neighbourhood of the capital Nairobi, and Joash Mosoti, a gay man, was tortured and strangled to death by unknown attackers in his house in Mombasa, a coastal city along the Indian Ocean.
However, as one of the 68 countries where homosexual relations are illegal – in Kenya’s case due to British colonial-era laws where penalties can include imprisonment of up to 14 years – their pleas are often ignored by Kenyan officials and society. Kenya’s president has gone so far as to say that gay rights are a “non-issue” in the country.
Even still, after the attack, community rights groups warned the public:
Homophobic and hate-based rhetoric by leaders and sensationalisation of Edwin Chiloba’s murder by the media only serves to incite violence against queer Kenyans.
In response to the murder and the community groups statements, several MPs have doubled-down on anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Nyali MP Mohammed Ali said this Tuesday:
Let us not waste time discussing LQBTQ or whatever name they call it. It’s illegal, God doesn’t like it and we should not entertain it. On this one Democracy my foot! Jail them.
Ali’s counterpart Likoni MP Mishi Mboko followed up on Wednesday with:
LGBTQIA+ should not be entertained in Kenya anymore.
And, on Thursday, Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma said:
It's criminal for anyone to engage in unnatural/immoral sexual behaviour including bestiality (sleeping with animals), being gay or lesbian. There's ‘no human right’ to be gay, lesbian etc!
Thankfully, their bigotry was not left unchecked.
Professor Makau Mutua, a prominent political commentator, pushed back on the MP’s rhetoric directly and Esther Passaris, the Nairobi City County Woman Representative, voiced her support for Kenya’s LGBTQ+ community amidst such a devastating loss. Chiloba’s death saw pro-LGBTQ celebrities condemn the act, saying that his death was a declaration of war on the community.
Kenyan police said last Friday that they have a suspect in custody, 24-year-old Jactone Odhiambo, and have since arrested four additional people. According to Peter Kimulwo, head of investigations at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations office in Eldoret, the prime suspect is believed to be a longtime friend and lover of Chiloba’s.
We have a suspect in custody, and we are investigating his role in this murder.We are holding him as a prime suspect because there are leads pointing to him and others, but all these are subject to conclusive investigations.
It is a devastating escalation made even more worrisome because it is the third such murder in less than a year targeting LGBTQ+ Kenyans. Anti-Queer violence is on the rise all over the world and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. From religious zealots to political contrarians, there are countless forces out to demonize and kill the light LGBTQ+ people bring to the world.
They are terrified of our collective power and individual freedom. Even when they are sheltered within their cherished institutions, those who wish to destroy us tremble with envy at our audacious nature, our ability to defy the norms and expectations they falsely believe to be absolute and all-powerful rules. Like all violent people, they are pathetic and they are pitiful. Queer people must be resolute in the face of this flailing devil, no matter where we find ourselves in the world. Those of us in privileged spaces of relative security here in the West must continue to shine a light on every injustice our LGBTQ+ family faces around the globe. Only then will we all be free.
Rest in Power, Edwin. May your memory be a blessing to us all in this war.
Stay vigilant and healthy, beautiful people.
As always, thanks for reading.
Kyle (@kgborland)
A List of LGBTQ+ Wins
118th Congress breaks record for lesbian, gay and bisexual representation (Pew Research Center)
For 1st time trio of gay men sworn in as San Francisco supervisors (Bay Area Reporter)
Comment: They’re all cop-humpers, but it’s a first so I’m including it.
Germany pushes to end gay blood donor discrimination (DW)
Indian activists embrace the power of queer archiving to rebalance history (Xtra)
Judge who allegedly used gay slurs retires from the bench (NYTimes)
Leader of influential Hindu group backs LGBT rights in India (Reuters)
Map of LGBTQ+ People in the UK (UK Office for National Statistics)
Marjorie Taylor Greene held an anti-trans rally at the Capitol & almost no one came (LGBTQ Nation)
Minister Steve Pieters endured the AIDS crisis. He’s a beacon of faith battling new virus (LA Times)
Out for America 2022: Census of LGBTQ Elected Officials (Out for America)
Over 2,000 join LGBTQ march in New Delhi after COVID break (AP)
Rep. Ritchie Torres introduces the SANTOS act to punish politicians who lie about their resumes (LGBTQ Nation)
Same-sex marriage case: Indian Supreme Court transfers all petitions before High Courts to itself (Bar and Bench)
Students protest Pride flag ban at Massachusetts high school (LGBTQ Nation)
Want to Understand L.G.B.T.Q. Life in America? Go to Alabama. (NYTimes)
Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate, Laws & Violence Around the World
Anti-LGBTQ Legislative Tracking (Alejandra Carabello)
Arizona GOP lawmakers now want to ban drag brunches on Sundays (LGBTQ Nation)
"Don't Say Gay" bill introduced by Iowa Republican leaders (Axios Des Moines)
Five State Bills in Indiana, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri and Wyoming Would Take Trans Kids From Parents And Charge With Child Abuse (Erin in the Morning)
Florida Family Accused of Beating, Blinding Gay Man Appears in Court (The Advocate)
Florida man arrested for threats of LGBTQ mass shooting (The Hill)
How Montana Took a Hard Right Turn Toward Christian Nationalism (NYTimes)
“I want to fight”: LGBTQ Texans ready for the legislative session as GOP lawmakers target them in dozens of bills (Texas Tribune)
Republican Texas lawmakers, who control both legislative chambers, have filed around three dozen bills targeting LGBTQ people as of last week. That is already more than they attempted to pass in the regular five-month legislative session in 2021, according to Equality Texas, an LGBTQ advocacy organization that tracks such legislation. Many of the bills seek to limit or ban gender-affirming health care for trans kids. Others aim to limit classroom instruction about sexuality and gender identity. And some look to restrict drag shows and performers.
Notably, the new slate of bills will be assigned out to legislative committees for debate just months ahead of the 20th anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Texas law criminalizing homosexuality and ushered in an era of significant LGBTQ rights advancement. So as they look ahead to the upcoming legislative battles, advocates acknowledge that it’s just as important to look backward and learn from historical victories.
Idaho School board meeting descends into chaos during debate about rights for LGBTQ+ students (LGBTQ Nation)
It Was Never About Sports: The Strategy Of The Anti-Trans Right (Erin in the Morning)
The fallout of the anti-trans bathroom bills halted legislative attacks on transgender rights for 4 years. During the Trump presidency, there were a handful of executive actions targeting the transgender community, but things were relatively quiet at the state level. For anti-trans groups though, they were regrouping and building out their legislative strategy for the future - a strategy which we have seen play out for the last 3 years. In 2019, a conservative group called the American Principles Project, which refers to itself as the “NRA for families,” released its first anti-trans advertisement to ban transgender people from sports in Kentucky. This was the opening salvo of the modern attack on transgender rights:
In an interview with CNN, the president of the American Principles Project drew out exactly how they enacted this series of anti-trans legislation that we are seeing continue to grow today. The “sports issue” was only ever meant as a way to make anti-trans policies more palatable to legislators. The president of the American Principles Project, Terry Schilling, detailed how this was the case, “The women's sports issue was really the beginning point in helping expose all this because what it did was, it got opponents of the LGBT movement comfortable with talking about transgender issues.”
LGBTQ rights at the center of tug-o-war globally in 2022 (Bay Area Reporter)
Make drag queens illegal? It’s happened before (News is Out)
Mexican church woman sprays gay couple with holy water: “Get out right now!” (LGBTQ Nation)
Moscow’s war in Ukraine brought harsh tactics against gay Russians at home (WashPost)
Ron DeSantis unleashes famed bigot to ruin beloved college in Florida (Progress Report)
Students say Florida school play shut down over Don’t Say Gay (LGBTQ Nation)
Trailblazer or Turncoat? The Gay Politician Dividing Israel's LGBTQ Community (Haaretz)
Two Texas bills would restrict lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools (Texas Tribune)
Ukrainian Family Accused in Beating of Gay Man Heading to Court (Edge Media Network)
Wisconsin Republicans block ban on ‘conversion therapy’ (PBS News Hour)
Extra Links, Quotes & Gay Shit
Does the Queer Scene Have a Ketamine Problem? (Rolling Stone)
Ryan Murphy’s Dahmer Equates Queerness with Monstrosity (Crime Reads)
Wait, Is Coming Out Fun Now (for Celebrities)? (Vogue)