Its sad, but we are right; LGBTQ is not accepted outside Nairobi and Mombasa

The recent brutal torture and murder of Edwin Chiloba has served once again to remind a marginalized and brutalized community; members of the LGBTQ in Kenya of the fact that the conservative Christian country is not yet ready to accept them as they are and perhaps never will.

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The late fashion designer, model and LGBTQ rights advocate was found stuffed in a metal box and dumped in a forest in Eldoret. And a lot of celebrities especially those who are members of the LGBTQ (whether still in the closet or not) have come out to mourn their friend.

Edwin Chiloba was Lassie in on New Year’s Eve of 2022 when he was out with friends ushering in the new year. He was found in the same clothes he wore while he was out which a police report described as female attire.

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His friends and admirers had described him as a man who was full of vigour and love for life. He was an openly gay man who lived in his truth ignoring whether or not it was accepted or supported by the local community he was a member of.

Therein lies the problem because even though we would like to talk about human rights we need to understand that we all are members of a community. Edwin Chiloba’s death remind me of a Japanese saying, “the nail that sticks out gets hammered“.

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We had an opinion piece in which we spoke about yet another gay Rights activist Makena Njeri and her push to have homosexuality accepted not just within the enclaves in Nairobi and Mombasa but Nationwide. In it we had pointed out the fact that this was a fool’s errand as most Kenyans have an almost Fundamentalist aversion to the topic.

The brutal murder of Edwin Chiloba is sadly a reminder that we were right. These are those rare instances where we regret being right. But the truth is even in Nairobi Kenya’s capital city and the most cosmopolitan city in Eastern and Central Africa, homosexuality is not only a taboo topic but one that can lead to personal harm or even death.

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The only way for a member of the LGBTQ to survive outside of Nairobi and Mombasa is for them to code-switch. The demand to be able to leave the truth and be authentic to themselves is a naive one that chooses to be ignorant of the sheer hatred so many Kenyans have towards them.

My advice would be for them to move smart and adapt, after all, survival isn’t for the fittest but the most adaptable. When they are in their own clips in Nairobi or Mombasa they are free to be as they are.s at the same time they can be pushing for changes in Kenyan legislation that decriminalises same-sex relations and marriages. However, it doesn’t make sense to me for them to martyr themselves for this cause because they will be met with a grizzly end. We need to be pragmatic in our outlook on life, this isn’t a battle let alone a war that will be one in less than a decade or three, therefore it makes no sense to make this a battle of attrition.

That said and done, wewish to pass our condolences onto the late Edwin Chiloba’s family and friends and we truly do pray that his soul will find eternal peace in the bosom of God Almighty.

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