PERSPECTIVES ON LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER (LGBT) DECISION TO DISCLOSE THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION TO THEIR FAMILIES AND SOCIETY IN KENYA

This qualitative study explored LGBTQ individuals’ decisions to disclose sexual orientation or gender to their families and society. This paper mainly focused on the LGBTQ community aspect governing the general public, consciousness of identity development, and what they perceived about the LGBTQ community. The basic research lies in contextual identity development and the problems faced by the LGBTQ community. A qualitative and quantitative approach with the exploratory fundamentals, of this study has been processed. The limitation is that the sampling strategy means getting the right number of samples for differencing interviews or questionnaire furnishing. The complimentary part of the study is that the higher levels of education the LGBTQ community have and by the time, they will be considered normal people, as now a day very abnormal is the new normal. Participants were recruited through local LGBTQ groups’ 30 lesbian females and 20 gay males participated in qualitative interviews. All participants identified racially as black African and resided in Kenya; ages ranged from 18 to 70 years old. Employment status varied: 35% were retired; 30% worked full-time; 18% were disabled and 9% were semi-retired. Professions spanned business, educational, legal, media, and medical fields. Two participants were veterans. Seven participants were partnered, one widowed and six single. Sixty-four percent owned homes and 39% rented. Religious and spiritual beliefs varied. All participants could identify at least one person as family or support. All participants reported disclosing their sexual orientation to their families and friends. Participants used discretion when disclosing their sexual minority status based on the relevancy, safety, or openness of providers. They indicated that in Kenya was a relatively unsafe place to disclose to families. Recommendations to increase LGBTQ consumers’ disclosure to families about sexual orientation and use inclusive language in forms and conversations.