Just because Lesbians and the Gay in Kenya are hidden, it does not mean these deprived acts don’t take place under the guise of speed dating or private parties.
Few Kenyans have confirmed that indeed gay parties and hookups are in demand and happen in the cover of darkness.
You see many girls who attend the said uptown same-sex parties do so due to peer pressure. Most of them are aged between 16 to 21 years and they are mostly experimenting.
Filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu has blamed Kenyans over the ban of her film ‘Rafiki’, a love story of two teenage girls who develop a romance that’s opposed by their families and community.
According to government watchdogs, the movie’s depiction of homosexuality runs countrary to the laws and the culture of Kenya.
“The reason ‘Rafiki’ is not watched in Kenya is that Kenyans didn’t advocate for it,” she said. Wanuri says during the seven days the film was screened in Kenya, some people opened up to her.
“Many people came to me and told me they saw themselves in the movie because they had lived in denial for so long,” she said, adding that audiences deserve the movies that they watch.
She says as an audience member, if you want to see more people of colour in your screen and more voices of diversity in your screen, then it is your responsibility and not for the creators to fight for the rights.
When you see a non-white person creating a film, go out and buy a ticket. You don’t have to watch it but do it for the data.
“So that the next time I am creating a film of joy with people of colour, I can say, look at the data because the only thing we have had recently is the Black Panther, which cannot be the only film to be used explain our diversity,” she said.
“There are more stories of joy to be told and they are to be told by us. It is our responsibility and that is why I am fighting with the authorities.”
On April 26, last year, Wanuri’s film was banned by the KFCB under the Films and Stage Plays Act, prompting the director to contest the ban in court. Wanuri is now contesting the constitutionality of the ban on grounds that it is a violation of freedom of expression.
She wants the court to determine whether banning the film was a violation of her rights under the Constitution. What do you think about Wanuri’s sentiments? Could she be right?