Kenya 's High Court has blocked an attempt to overturn a law banning gay sex, in a significant set back for LGBT + rights across Africa .Judges claimed repealing British colonial-era laws would open the door to same sex marriage in a country and continent that continues to discriminate against LGBT+ citizens.Many in Kenya's gay community had hoped the court would make history by scrapping the laws and inspiring other countries in Africa to do the same. Paul Muite, the main petitioner in the case, said he would appeal the decision. From extras.Activists had argued the laws criminalising consensual same-sex relations between adults were in breach of the constitution because they deny basic rights. The state should not regulate intimacy between gay couples, they said. One law punishes "carnal knowledge against the order of nature" and prescribes up to 14 years in prison for people convicted of homosexual acts. Another says "indecent practices between males" can bring up to five years in prison. The laws create an environment of fear and harassment even if they are not always enforced, activists said. "The issue is violence, discrimination and oppression," one activist, Tirop Salat, said.