Facing Our Fears: The Impact of a 4-Day Training Intervention to Reduce Negative Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Minorities among Religious Leaders in Kenya

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated short- and long-term impact of a 4-day training intervention to reduce negative perspectives of religious leaders in Kenya on sexual and gender minorities, adopting a one-group pretest-posttest-follow-up design. Religious leaders’ perspectives play an important role in maintaining the negative status quo for sexual and gender minorities, especially in Africa, where religion’s impact is ubiquitous and holding negative attitudes against these populations is perceived as an expression of doctrinal orthodoxy. The training, developed by a community-based organization, employs a variety of strategies, including education, storytelling, and in-person contact. Data were collected directly before and after the training, and at 3- to 4-months follow-up. After the training, acceptance of lesbian women and gay men and gender diversity had increased, while attitudes toward gender and sexual minorities became more positive. Interaction effect analysis showed that compared to women, men changed more, as did those who scored higher on religious fundamentalism. Changes in attitudes were maintained at follow-up (three to four months). Although it is not clear whether the training had an impact on the religious leaders’ interactions with members of their congregation, these findings suggest that intensive trainings may promote positive changes in their perspective on gender and sexual minorities.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the religious leaders who participated in the training. This study was supported by a grant from the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) (grant number OR2017-38399). Dr. Sandfort’s contribution has been supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (P30-MH43520; PI: Remien).

Disclosure Statement

The authors had no financial interest or benefit that has arisen from the direct applications of the research.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health [P30- MH43520]; Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) [OR2017-38399].