Healthcare Challenges Faced by Queer People in Kenya Due to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

By Melisa Mong'ina 

In Kenya, members of the queer community often face significant barriers when accessing healthcare services. 

Discrimination, stigma, and a lack of understanding from healthcare providers are just a few of the challenges that prevent LGBTQ+ individuals from receiving the care they need. For many, seeking medical attention becomes daunting due to fears of judgment and mistreatment.

Ruele Okeyo, a queer individual living with HIV and an advocate for the elimination of gender-based violence (GBV), shares his personal experiences and challenges navigating healthcare systems, particularly within the context of public health emergencies.

“I’m a gay man living with HIV. I’ve been living with it for four years. Some of the challenges that we queer folks go through, particularly in public health emergencies, include the lack of access to healthcare facilities,” said Okeyo.

He explains that there is a scarcity of healthcare facilities equipped to serve the LGBTQ+ community. For most individuals in this community, the only available options are either public hospitals, where they face significant stigma, or private hospitals, which are financially inaccessible for many due to high out-of-pocket costs.

“We do not have facilities that are well equipped to handle the community really well. This makes us rely on public hospitals, where we face so much stigma, or private hospitals, which not everyone can afford. Accessing these services often means paying out-of-pocket, which is not always an option,” explained Okeyo.

Okeyo further highlights how healthcare providers often focus more on a patient’s gender identity or sexual orientation rather than the medical issue that brought them to the facility, leading to stigmatization.

“When it comes to accessing services, we face a huge challenge, especially because of how we’re identified. Talking about our gender identity and expression is difficult because we’re already stigmatized for that. Getting medical assistance is hard because everyone is focused on how I look and not why I came to the hospital,” Okeyo shared.

He notes that healthcare providers frequently fail to approach issues of sexual orientation and gender identity with sensitivity, resulting in discomfort and even outright discrimination. As a result, patients are often unable to receive the care they need because the focus shifts from their medical concerns to their personal identity.

“Most healthcare providers are not well trained to understand my sexual orientation or gender identity. Instead of giving me the services I need, the conversation shifts to who I am as a person. This prevents me from getting the care I came for,” Okeyo stated.

Okeyo emphasizes the urgent need for sensitization programs for healthcare providers to address these challenges and ensure that patients can access care without judgment or stigma.

“We need to sensitize healthcare providers to ensure they can offer services effectively and efficiently without stigmatizing us in the process. The facilities that cater to gender minorities are very few and far away,” Okeyo stated.

He shared a personal experience to highlight the real-world challenges queer people face when accessing healthcare, particularly those living outside urban centers. He recalls a time when he was unemployed, homeless, living outside the city, and struggling to access HIV care.

“I lived outside the city, and it took me an hour to get to a medical facility. Getting there was a challenge because I was unemployed and homeless at the time. I had no money, and I was already living with HIV,” Okeyo narrated.

Healthcare providers subjected Okeyo to uncomfortable and stigmatizing questions about his sexual orientation and how he contracted HIV. The doctor’s response to his sexual orientation was judgmental, further marginalizing him.

“Getting to the facility, my sexual orientation and gender identity were already hard enough to navigate. Then the doctors started asking me how I got HIV. When I explained it was through sex, the conversation shifted to my sexual partners—whether they were male or female. When I said ‘male,’ the doctor gave me a look that made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. The energy in the room shifted, and I felt stigmatized, as though the services the doctor offered were now influenced by his judgment of me.”

Eventually, Okeyo found a queer-friendly healthcare facility, which was a transformative experience. He was finally able to access the services he needed without being judged or stigmatized.

“Finally, I found a facility that was queer-friendly. This was a game changer for me because I finally had a space where I could access services without feeling stigmatized or judged,” said Okeyo.

He advocates for broader sensitization and training of healthcare providers across both public and private sectors, emphasizing the importance of understanding sexual orientation and gender identity to ensure inclusive and respectful services for gender minorities.

“Sensitizing healthcare providers is crucial. They need to understand sexual orientation and gender identity to provide efficient and inclusive services to gender minorities,” urged Okeyo.