Close to 50 lobby groups are urging US President Joe Biden to suspend trade talks with Kenya to push President William Ruto to dismiss a bill deemed to be against the LGBTQ.

The lobbies are opposing the Family Protection Bill introduced in the National Assembly by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma aimed at further criminalizing same sex relationships.

The lobby groups in Kenya and US want the Biden administration to halt the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) talks until President Ruto dismisses the said bill in Kenya.

The groups expressed their objection to the Kaluma Bill in a letter addressed to visiting US Trade Representative Katherine Tai seeking intervention by US to arm-twist Ruto to act.

“In partnership with LGBTQI+ groups in Kenya, we reiterate our request that you pause STIP negotiations until President Ruto commits to vetoing this bill,” said the lobbies in the letter.

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They argue that halting the trade talks between US and Kenya would show the Biden administration’s commitment to defending the rights of the LGBTQI+ community globally.

“This move would advance a worker-centered, inclusive trade policy. Moreover, stopping trade talks would send a message to countries around the world that the United States does not tolerate the violation of LGBTQI+ rights,” said signatories of the letter.

In the said letter, the lobby groups want Tai to:

• Prioritize in her talking points the request to President Ruto and Investment and Trade CS Moses Kuria for the Kenya government to commit to reject any bill or policy that will enact new anti-LGBTQ+ criminal penalties on Kenyans.

• Include individuals from the LGBTQ+ community who have been directly affected by recent attacks in her roundtables.

• Visit a healthcare facility that faces the possibility of being shut down or has experienced challenges in providing services owing to to recent violations of rights of the LGBTQ+.

The lobbies have set out to collect 10,000 signatures in their effort to have the significant trade talks suspended.

“We urge you to stand up for the rights of LGBQTI+ people and to cease STIP negotiations until the Family Protection Bill is defeated,” concluded the letter.

Kaluma’s Family Protection Bill, 2023, seeks to establish”

“An Act of Parliament to provide for the protection of the family in furtherance of Article 45 of the Constitution, to prohibit homosexuality and same sex marriage, to prohibit unnatural sexual acts and related activities and to proscribe activities that seek to advance, advocate, promote or fund homosexuality and unnatural sexual acts and for connected purposes.”