Sexuality and Religion Network in East Africa

The Sexuality and Religion Network (SERENE) in East Africa is based on two fundamental insights. First, any international development agenda committed to reducing social, economic and political inequality has to find ways to adequately address and overcome the stigma and discrimination experienced by LGBTIQ people. Second, in Sub-Saharan Africa where 50 up to 70 per cent of health, education and other services are provided by faith-based organisations, religion must be incorporated into development analyses and interventions, and the role of religious leaders, as opinion leaders and influential figures in communities and societies, in contributing to processes of effecting social, cultural, political and legal change has to be recognised. Both insights have been acknowledged in recent development work and thinking, including by major UN bodies, but they have hardly been intersected. The critical and important role of religious leaders in promoting LGBTIQ equality remains under-researched.

Intersecting and expanding on these two major insights, SERENE brings together academics and practitioners working in the field of religion and sexuality in East Africa, in order to collaboratively explore and enhance the role of religious leaders in promoting LGBTIQ equality and inclusion in the region. With homosexuality being deeply politicised in contemporary Africa, and with the status of LGBTIQ people, identities and rights often being seen as controversial in religious circles, it is crucial to develop adequate strategies to educate, train and sensitise religious leaders in order to capitalise on their potential to become agents of change towards LGBTIQ equality and inclusion.

The network focuses on East Africa, specifically Kenya and Uganda, two countries that in recent years have demonstrated considerably diverging trends when it comes to LGBTIQ inclusion. Yet in both countries, there are organisations that are working at the intersections of religion and sexuality, and that have engaged religious leaders in the area of LGBTIQ equality and inclusion. The comparative nature of SERENE allows for an exchange of different strategies, resources and "best practices", and thus facilitates mutual learning, the exploration of common challenges, and the development of new strategies and resources with a regional focus. The scope of the project includes Christian leaders from diverse denominations, acknowledging that Christianity is the majority religion in the countries concerned, but also includes Muslim leaders where that is relevant to the work of partner organisations.
The network activities will be threefold:
1. Through two research workshops, we will map and enhance existing strategies and resources used by partner CBOs. At workshop 1, the results of a mapping exercise will be presented, identifying and examining the key resources and strategies, and evaluating their strengths, the areas for further development, and the gaps for future work. A specific plan for development will be agreed. Each CBO will work with an academic partner, and the outcomes of their work will be presented at research workshop 2. The resulting case studies will be published as a report.
2. Through the partner CBOs, first-person narratives of religious leaders involved in promoting LGBTIQ equality and inclusion in Uganda and Kenya will be collected. These stories will be analysed and developed into a resource for future work training other religious leaders.
3. A documentary film about LGBTIQ people of faith in Kenya is currently being produced by the PI and one of the partner CBOs. The network will be used as a critical space to test and evaluate the film as a method for social change. Local screenings of the film to religious leaders will be facilitated by partner CBOs, followed by impact assessments through group discussions and interviews.
A closing symposium will be held to share the results with a wider audience.

The primary non-academic beneficiaries of this research network will be the seven community-based organisations, active in different parts of Kenya and Uganda, who in recent years have begun to undertake cutting-edge work in engaging religious leaders on issues of LGBTIQ equality and inclusion. These organisations often operate in relative isolation, as their area of work is often perceived as controversial by other human rights and community organisations as well as by religious institutions. They have however developed innovative strategies, resources and tools, and this network facilitates mutual exchange and learning as well as collaborative evaluation and enhancement of these. Most importantly, the network activities provide a rare space for these organisations and their staff to learn from each other, to develop structures of exchange, and lay the foundation for partnerships that will continue beyond the project period. The network also allows a rare space for exchange between the partner CBOs and academic researchers based in academic institutions in East Africa and the UK, through which they will benefit from the latest academic knowledge and from critical research skills for data collection and analysis.
We intend for the network to contribute to the lessening of the gap between development practitioners and academic researchers, and to seriously engage with the expertise of partner CBOs as a source of academic knowledge to be disseminated and valorised.
Beyond the seven partner CBOs that will be part of the research network, other community-based organisations, faith-based organisations and NGOs with an interest in working in the area of religion and sexuality in development practice will benefit from the outputs developed through the network. The project website will be a key resource for these organisations to learn about, and benefit from, the key resources and strategies developed by partner CBOs, with the potential for future networking and exchange opportunities. This is particularly important as some of the larger NGOs, such as HIVOS, have recently developed an interest in engaging religious leaders, while some large faith-based organisations, such as Church World Service, most recently are developing an interest in engaging with topics of LGBTIQ inclusion. The cutting-edge work undertaken by the grassroots partner CBOs in this network will be shared with these larger organisations through the closing symposium of the project, as well as through the project website, which is likely to facilitate exchange and generate impact on the programmes of the established NGOs and FBOs, as the latter will benefit from the expertise disseminated through the network.
The project team will actively watch developments in the field and identify major organisations with an interest in the work undertaken in the network, with a view to expanding the network with possible future grant applications, thus expanding its impact and reach.
Religious leaders and organisations in East Africa will benefit from knowledge and expertise developed through this network. As key targets of the programmes run by partner CBOs, religious leaders will be exposed to new and critical ways of thinking about sexuality, and will be empowered in their position as agents of change in their community and society. Consequently, also mainstream society in countries such as Kenya and Uganda will benefit from the network, as religious leaders - through the resources, tools and strategies developed through the network - will become more effective agents in promoting equality, inclusion and diversity in their communities and societies. Thus, on the longer term the project contributes to social welfare in society more generally, helps promoting tolerance and acceptance towards sexual minorities, and building a culture of respect for human rights and human dignity.