The bishops of Kenya and Ethiopia have opposed a report by experts commissioned by the United Nations, relating to “the protection of homosexual and transgender persons.” Taking into consideration what they deem to be false reasoning, the prelates of East Africa are denouncing an attempt to impose gender theory on member states.
“Your report is clearly aimed at advancing gender ideology, a theory that strives to erase all differences between men and women.” The Kenyan and Ethiopian bishops reacted to the publication of a UN report on March 14, 2021, calling on member states to rapidly implement policies based on “non-discrimination” against homosexual and “transgender” people.
The UN has even launched a “call for contributions” to enrich a report, the final version of which must be presented to the 47th ordinary session of the Human Rights Council, scheduled to take place from June 21 to July 9, 2021.
The Ethiopian Bishops’ Conference (CBCE) and that of Kenya (KCCB) have thus combined their efforts in the second half of March, in order to propose a contribution condemning a gender theory deemed “regressive.”
The African prelates wonder how the adoption of a gender identity policy would be defined since there are over 112 reported gender identities in the world, with a possibility of more coming up. “This would create disorder among the member states of the United Nations.”
Moreover, such a policy would be a source of injustice, because only “transgender people” would be able to determine, based on internal feelings, what constitutes an act of discrimination. “There is no other law in the world that functions this way,” note the bishops.
The KCCB puts forward an additional argument, referring to the status of women: “We oppose the attempts of UN experts to undermine the hard-won advancements of women and girls whose rights and private spaces are being violated by men who identify as women.”
In conclusion, the Ethiopian bishops denounce what they see as the hidden intention of the UN report, “to put pressure on member states to integrate gender theory into their laws.”
And they warn the United Nations: “it is our moral duty, as Catholic pastors, to demand that the work of your commission not run counter to the common good of mankind.”
Let us hope that this firm and courageous stance will be able to stop this pernicious ideology, at least in this corner of the planet.
