From Identity Kenya:
However, several LGBTI activists have called for the boycott of the event with some arguing that the backlash from the public would be severe and will not make gains for the local movement.Funny thing about haters: Nothing you can do will change what they do. Go ahead, cancel the event - they're still going to lie and claim that being gay is a white man thing, and they're still going to hate you.
'This pride will further solidify the fact that homosexuality is a white man thing,' one is quoted.
One activist said that they are not assured of security and since the media will be there it may 'out' otherwise those who do not wish to be identified publicly as LGBT.Fair point, but that's always the case with any work on any contentious issue in a scary place. If you work on the issue publicly, you're in danger. And a lot of Soviet refuseniks refused to back down in spite of the danger. A lot of American blacks did the same.
I'm not going to try to claim to understand the dynamics on the ground for gays in Kenya. I will say that others have fought these battles before in other countries on other issues. And while sometimes you need to lay low, sometimes you need to stand up as well.
In a swift response LGBT critic and Identity Kenya magazine columnist, Queer Watchtower, has opposed the boycott saying it serves no purpose and termed them as 'insecure.'Amen.
He said, 'After months of disorganization and sloth in petty wrangles that have harmed the movement, some activists want to use this opportunity to spoil for a fight. Where is the security threat? Who is being forced to attend? We need to stop spreading fear and inciting insecurities where we have no credible basis and when the movement has for a long time been unstrategic.'
