Tag Archives: Kenya

Google Ignores Kenya’s Attempts To Ban Gay Rights Rap Video

Kenya’s Films Classification Board is furious that Google hasn’t even responded to their demands that it take down a video they claim to have banned in Kenya.

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The tech giants are not complying with the Board’s order that it geoblock a music video that supports LGBTI rights in Africa, so that it cannot be watched inside Kenya.

The offending video is a remixed version of Macklemore and Brian Lewis’ gay rights anthem Same Love but Kenyan rappers Art Attack have added their own lyrics to the music and a video which mixes self-shot footage with scenes from the US hit television series Empire.

Art Attack launched the video on YouTube in February and it has been watched over a hundred thousand times since then, while causing debate and outrage in the Kenyan media.

same-love-kenya 33436_same-love-art-attack

The board claims that the video contains nudity and pornographic images and that it has banned the video. However as it is being hosted outside of Kenya there is nothing they can do about it on their own.

Watch for your self, and see there is no sex, simulated or real – nor is there any full frontal nudity.

The board’s chief executive, Ezekiel Mutua, said he expected Google to comply with their demands within a week. However Google is yet to acknowledge their request.

The least we expected from Google was a reply whether in the affirmative or not. It is important that Google makes a step on this. The video currently circulating on YouTube consists of lyrics that strongly advocate for gay rights in Kenya complete with graphic sexual scenes between people of the same gender as well as depiction and pornography.”

The matter has also been reported to the Kenyan Police who are seeking to track down and identify the members of Art Attack.

Obama Faces LGBT Rights Challenge in Kenya

As the United States has grown more tolerant during Obama’s presidency, African countries have imposed harsher laws on gays and lesbians.

However, in an interview with BBC’s John Sopel prior to his visit Africa, the President spoke openly of his support for the global LGBT community, before rebuking comments made by the Kenya’s deputy leader, William Ruto.

When asked about the difficulties he may face during his visit, Obama said he has been “very blunt” about his beliefs surrounding the subject of LGBT rights, and voiced his distaste for Mr Ruto’s comments, saying he is “not a fan” of discrimination on any level, including discrimination “on the basis of sexual orientation or gender.”

Responding to a question on Kenya – and how he will deal with Mr Ruto, who recently stated, “We have heard that in the US they have allowed gay relations and other dirty things”

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President Obama said:

Yeah. Well, I disagree with him on that, don’t I? And I’ve had this experience before when we’ve visited Senegal in my last trip to Africa. I think that the president there President Sall, is doing a wonderful job in moving the country forward – a strong democrat. But in a press conference, I was very blunt about my belief that everybody deserves fair treatment, equal treatment in the eyes of the law and the state.

And that includes gays, lesbians, transgender persons. I am not a fan of discrimination and bullying of anybody on the basis of race, on the basis of religion, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender.”

He also said that he believes his personal connection to the country will aid him in his efforts to convince them to change their stance on homosexuality.

And as somebody who has family in Kenya and knows the history of how the country so often is held back because women and girls are not treated fairly, I think those same values apply when it comes to different sexual orientations.”

The President’s comments echo that of the US Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons, as well as the path other countries like the UK are going down to promote LGBT rights at home and abroad.

Obama said:

This job is an important new tool for us because it allows us to engage in a globally consistent manner at a reasonably senior level with governments overseas to explain our views and our policy projection here, which is actually not very controversial.”

A White House spokesperson had previously stated that the President had every intention of discussing gay rights on his trip to Kenya – despite the country’s warnings not to.

Anti gay protesters have made repeated attempts to discourage the President to from promoting gay rights during his visit to the country, taking to social media and the streets of Nairobi in an attempt to dissuade any discussion on the matter.

A Kenyan political group had also planned to protest the President’s upcoming visit by asking 5,000 people to march naked through the streets – however, the march was cancelled after the Kenyan security forces intervened.

Watch | Growing Up LGBT In East Africa

None on Record is a digital media organisation working to document stories from LGBT communities in Africa.

Founded in 2006 by Selly Thiam – herself a Senegalese lesbian living in the U.S. – the project began as a way of collecting oral histories of LGBT Africans.

In the collection of intimate clips below, participants ranging from an executive chef and a Legal Officer at Kenya’s National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission to the Executive Coordinator of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, and Ugandan transgender activist and scientist Cleopatra Kambugu, share their stories of coming out and messages for African LGBT youth.

The organisation previously produced a series focused on LGBT Africans seeking asylum in the UK, and in October 2015 they have plans to host a three-day cultural arts festival in Nairobi.

There is still much violence perpetrated against LGBT people. People deal with extortion by police, lack of access to health care and employment. LGBT people face illegal evictions from their homes and being ostracized by families and communities. Some religious leaders add fuel to the fire by actively preaching against LGBT people, calling it a lifestyle, unAfrican and perverse. Still, there is a vibrant LGBT community in Kenya that is becoming more visible everyday. There are active organisations working towards equality.”

Selly Thiam

Kendi Magiri, Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewuZDtH7CEo

Njeri Gateru, Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiNo3r-USYw

Lorna Dias, Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uggOF9U0A8

Cleopatra Kambugu, Uganda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyxK7U3-Iek

Ugandan LGBTs Who Fled to Kenya Still Feel in Danger

When a Ugandan court overturned the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act this month, rights activists worldwide claimed a victory. But not gay Ugandans who fled persecution to live in a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya.

“The reaction shocked me. I went there. I thought it would be a celebration, but … nothing. They knew at an international level and at the diplomatic level, the decision is going to have impact, but at the local level, it won’t really. You can overrule the law, but you can’t overrule the mind.”

Brizan Ogollan

Of the 155,000 refugees at Kakuma camp, 35 are registered with the U.N. refugee agency as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans who fled because of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which became law in February.

The now-overturned law called for life jail sentences for those convicted of gay sex and criminalized vague offenses like “attempted homosexuality” and “promoting homosexuality” in a country where being gay has long been illegal.

Since the law was first proposed in 2009, public opinion in Uganda has grown increasingly anti-gay, said Geoffrey Ogwaro, a coordinator for the Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which is based in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Many gay Ugandans have lived in constant fear of arrest. Some were imprisoned. Landlords evicted tenants. One man tried to run over his gay son with a car, Ogwaro said.

“Unfortunately, the law’s nullification has actually polarized society more,”

Geoffrey Ogwaro

Members of parliament have started petitions to resurrect the legislation, although President Yoweri Museveni is reported to have requested the parliamentarians to reconsider.

Three years ago, when a 26-year-old gay Ugandan man was caught with another man, his stepfather threatened to report him to authorities and he fled to Nairobi. “I thought, `No one loves you in your family,'” said the man, who insisted on anonymity because of fears for his safety.

With little money in his pocket, he could not afford to stay in the Kenyan capital. He registered with the U.N.’s refugee agency, and for three years he has waited in Kakuma camp for refugee status, which would make him eligible for resettlement in a new country.

The man does not want to stay in Kenya, where same-sex conduct is also illegal, and where a bill recently introduced in parliament proposes that foreign gays be stoned to death. He continued to face harassment in Kakuma but at least he got support from fellow gay Ugandans, he said.

“For the first time, I met these people who were just like me. You think to yourself, `OK, I’m not alone.’ At least I felt there was someone who understood me.”

But last month he left for Nairobi because he thought the camp had grown too hostile. A Ugandan refugee was hospitalized in June after another refugee hurled stones and slurs at him, said Anthony Oluoch, executive director of the Gay Kenya Trust.

Recognizing the risks for LGBT refugees, the U.N. refugee agency said it is prioritizing their cases for resettlement.

The 26-year-old gay Ugandan has been trying to find work, but few employers in Nairobi are willing to hire a refugee. Two of his seven roommates have turned to prostitution. The house keeps a special fund for bribing police officers if they are arrested, he said.

Kenyan police could legally send him back to Kakuma. Some police officers have even deported asylum seekers back to Uganda against their will, said Neela Ghoshal, an LGBT rights researcher for Human Rights Watch.

“There’s no place in Kenya where I really think they can live freely and safely. They’re basically set up for a lot of bad options in life.”

Neela Ghoshal

‘Homophobia is un-African’ – Prominent Kenya Calls for Greater Tolerance of Gay Africans

Prominent Kenya writer, director and film maker, Wanuri Kahiu has called for greater tolerance of gay Africans across the continent.

In March, Kenya’s parliamentary majority leader claimed that homosexuality is something as serious as terrorism, saying, “We need to go on and address this issue the way we want to address terrorism.”

However this has not deterred Kahiu, who has spoke out and stated that…

“Homosexuality is not un-African, what is un-African is homophobia”

Wanuri Kahiu

Kahiu is a vibrant figure in African culture’s new wave scene. She directs both documentaries and fictional films. Her most celebrated film is the short science fiction film Pumzi that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. 

Last year, she produced “Homecoming”, a film based on the award winning novel by Monica Arac – Jambula Tree. The story centres on the love between two women in a country where same-sex activity is illegal.

“I wanted to tell this story because of the profound love that the man characters had for each other. Even though it’s a hard subject because it’s taboo, it was very important for me to tell a love story because that’s what it is: how true love can triumph over everything.”

Wanuri Kahiu