Kenya is first African nation to recognise intersex as gender

Kenya has added intersex to the gender options as it undertakes a population census.

Kenya thus becomes the first African country to recognize intersex people.

The “intersex” option next to the terms “man” and “woman” grants the right to people who do not recognize themselves as men or women to be able to express themselves openly, following the example of George Onyango.

“My name is George Onyango, I am an intersex. I attended the workshops for intersex people and there, I was informed of the new census where I was told that in the past there were only two categories for male and female but in this census there will be three, including intersex and I will use the initial ‘I’ which represents the intersex that I am”, Onyango said.

The East African nation officially recognized the third gender earlier this year following the recommendation of a working group set up for the cause.

Intersex Kenyans hope this is a step towards reducing the stigma surrounding them.