New Book documents the life and times of gay people in Kenya

What do you really know about living life as a homosexual in Kenya? You can the find out at Goethe Institut this week, where a book launch on the subject will take place. Kevin Mwachiro is a journalist and author of Invisible-Stories from Kenya’s Queer Community, in which members of the gay community have contributed their stories for him to document in the book.

Homophobia, blackmail, harassment, assault, incidents of ‘corrective rape’, extortion and reports of suicide are still occurring, because Kenya’s homosexuals are existing in a society that discriminates against them. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersex individuals struggle to live freely.

Kenya may appear progressive especially with the new constitution, in which the Bill of Human Rights in included, but the experiences reported in the book prove otherwise. Members of the homosexual community are still being discriminated against, but books like Invisible honors their experiences and gives these individuals a chance to be more visible in society.

Invisible gives gays an opportunity to detail their stories from their perspective, and articulate their experiences which is an important part of accepting one’s truth and life journey. A truly significant book that marks the need to use the arts to document contemporary social issues.

Mwachiro has worked as a BBC journalist and activist whose book, Invisible, was published in collaboration with the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and the Gay Kenya Trust. The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany also supported this book.

Invisible-Stories from Kenya’s Queer Community is part of a book series known as Contact Zones, in which “global and local artists, critics and audiences meet, dialogue and (re)produce new experiences and meanings of the art world and social reality.”

On February 5^th , Invisible will be launched at the Goethe Institut. Entry is free and the event begins at 6:00 p.m. For more info, log onto: http://www.goethe.de/ins/ke/nai/ or Goethe-Institut Nairobi (Facebook).

By Josephine Opar.