A historic civil-rights moment is on the horizon, as the US supreme court prepares to hear arguments on same-sex marriage – but full equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans is not just around the corner. Steven Thrasher meets three very historic couples – still facing discrimination in three very different places – to reflect on a watershed experiment Eleven years and 37 states ago, then-San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom allowed some of the first same-sex marriages in the United States to become legal because he thought, simply enough, that it was unconstitutional to discriminate against gay people. He got the idea from George W Bush. It was the height of the Iraq war, and Newsom, seated in the back rows of the US Capitol for Bush’s 2004 State of the Union address, found it “curious” when the newly re-elected president chose to focus instead on his own culture wars: sexual abstinence and drug testing in schools, steroids in baseball and faith in God, and the...

Six new consulates to be opened in the United States will be used as polling centres for Kenyans to vote in the 2017 general elections. The Kenyan ambassador to the US, Robinson Githae, said the six consulates will be located in Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and Seattle. The main consulate is in Washington, DC, and there are satellite missions in Los Angeles, California, as well as Kenya’s mission to the UN in New York. The ambassador said the mission in Seattle will be set up once he receives approval from the government. Speaking to a group of Kenyans living in the Maryland and Washington, DC, areas over the weekend during a reception hosted to welcome him as the new ambassador, Mr Githae said President Uhuru Kenyatta is committed to ensuring that Kenyans living abroad vote in the next general elections. “The President is very keen to see that come 2017, the diaspora is able to vote because your vote is important. Your voice needs to be heard,” he said. ...

Cord Thursday launched a campaign to change the Constitution with sweeteners targeting MCAs, judges, MPs and governors. Ms Adhiambo Opondo (left) gives Cord co-principal Moses Wetangula a booklet, as Cord leader Raila Odinga (centre) looks on at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi on April 23, 2015 after the launch of 'Okoa Kenya' Bill. Cord Thursday launched a campaign to change the Constitution with sweeteners targeting MCAs, judges, MPs and governors.  The bid by the Opposition coalition under the banner of Okoa Kenya (Save Kenya), seeks to have the minimum allocation to counties increased from the current 15 per cent of the government’s last audited revenue accounts to 45 per cent, a move that would be popular with governors whose referendum push on the matter is pending. It also proposes that five per cent of the amount allocated to counties go directly to a Ward Development Fund to finance projects in wards. Cord also proposes that counties be involved in some aspects of ...

President Uhuru Kenyatta has suspended besieged Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission Chairperson Mumo Matemu and the vice chair Irene Keino  pending the formation of a tribunal to probe allegations against them. This follows Wednesday’s recommendation by the National Assembly that the President forms a tribunal to investigate the two for alleged involvement in corruption, incompetence and abuse of office. The latest move however casts dark shadows on the fight against corruption as EACC is currently investigating several high profile cases on corruption. The Mps adopted a report by the Samuel Chepkonga led Justice and Legal affairs Committee that recommended their suspension and the formation of a tribunal to investigate allegations against them. Geoffrey Oriaro had petitioned the National Assembly to remove both Matemu and Keino accusing them of hampering the war against corruption through incessant wrangles that have bogged down the commission. President Uhuru Kenya...

Top lawyers among them Siaya Senator James Orengo, former minister Martha Karua, Wachira Maina, George Kegoro and election experts convene to discuss the controversial Supreme Court judgement of 2013 presidential elections. Through Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ) and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) a policy dialogue to mark the second anniversary of the Supreme Court judgment following the 2013 presidential election petition will be held at the Hilton Hotel, Tuesday in Nairobi from 9a.m. to 1p.m. A statement sent to the newsrooms from Africog said, the meeting will be looking at proposals going forward as Kenyans prepare for the 2017 General Elections when Jubilee’s first term comes to an end. Two years since the Supreme Court’s decision confirming the IEBC’s declaration of the Jubilee Coalition as having won the 2013 elections, the concerns raised by KPTJ in its election petition have never been fully addressed. Notably, there is still no consensus as ...

Two Kenyans are reported to have been among the 7 people killed in the Monday explosion in Garowe town of Somalia. Mr Ahmed Abdullahi Samatar alias Layli, the commander of Nugal police force in Puntland, a semi-autonomous state in Northeastern Somalia, reported an explosion at Garowe town, 1000 km northeast of Mogadishu. The commander stated that 7 persons, including 4 foreign nationals working with the United Nations and 2 Somalis died and the suspected bomber. He added that 7 more persons, including 2 foreign nationals and 5 Somalis, sustained wounds, two of the dead foreign staff are said to be from Kenya Local media reports that the UN staff were working with the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) in Puntland. He said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber. An Al-Shabaab spokesman for operations Sheikh Abdulaziz Abu Mus’ab claimed responsibility for the attack at Garowe, using various information outlets including al-Andalus, a broadcaster run by the j...