Kenya Bans “Blasphemous” Documentary About Gay Lovers
I am Samuel | Image: Human Rights Watch Film Festival
The Kenyan Film Classification Board (KFCB) on Thursday banned a documentary titled “I Am Samuel” about two gay lovers, calling it “unacceptable and an affront to (the) culture and identity” of a deeply Christian country which has long criminalised homosexuality.
According to the documentary’s description, Samuel, a gay Kenyan man, balances duty to his family with his love for his partner, Alex, in a country where their love is criminalised.
KFCB said the documentary sought to propagate “values that are in dissonance with our constitution, culture values and norms”.
“Worse still, the production is demeaning of Christianity as two gay men in the film purport to conduct a religious marriage invoking the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” KFCB boss Christopher Wambua said in a statement, declaring it “blasphemous”.
“Any attempt to exhibit, distribute, broadcast or possess the restricted film within the Republic of Kenya shall, therefore, be met with the full force of the law.”
Homosexuality is taboo across much of Africa, and gays often face discrimination or persecution.
Attempts to overturn British colonial-era laws banning homosexuality in Kenya have proven unsuccessful, and gay sex remains a punishable crime with penalties that include imprisonment of up to 14 years.
Peter Murimi | Image: The Rory Peck Trust
“I Am Samuel” is the second gay-themed film to be banned in Kenya, following a 2018 decision to stop cinemas from showing “Rafiki”, a lesbian love story which became the first Kenyan film to premiere at the Cannes film festival.
The ban on “Rafiki” (“friend” in Swahili) was later overturned by a court, and the film opened to sold-out audiences in Nairobi.
“I Am Samuel” director Peter Murimi told AFP in an interview last October that he did not expect the documentary to fare well with Kenyan censors.
He described the film as “very nuanced, it’s very balanced, it’s a story about a family that is struggling with this issue, having a gay son. So we’ll just try our best and hopefully Kenyans will see it and that’s what we want.”
The documentary, which has been shown at several film festivals and is available to rent online, also enjoys support from “Rafiki” director Wanuri Kahiu.
“We change people through conversation, not through censorship,” she tweeted in response to news of the ban, quoting hip-hop star Jay Z.
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