This book presents a controversial theme in anthropological explorations of queer experience, especially by linking religion and LGBT issues. This is most welcome as this is a fresh area of academic inquiry into sexuality in Kenya. By using case-by-case examples – namely, works by the author Binyavanga Wainaina, the gay gospel artist George Barasa, an anthology of short films documenting the lives of Kenyan individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex, and ethnography conducted in the LGBT-affirming Cosmopolitan Affirming Church in Nairobi – Adriaan van Klinken brings out narratives that present the challenges people face in expressing their sexualities in a patriarchal society. Specifically, the book thus records the experiences of those who refuse to be victims, a people with hope and urgency, who navigate between resistance and conventional growth, creating more space for community and affirmation. It allows its subjects to tell their own stories. In sum, Van Klinken shows how religiosity in Kenya shapes the lived experiences of LGBT people and how sexual orientation forges wider dimensions of faith and spirituality.
Van Klinken draws from rich primary and secondary sources to explore contestations around sexual diversity in the context of Christianity, examining how spiritual paths are transformed in reconciling and expressing faith and sexual orientations. Van Klinken has thus become the first scholar to bring LGBT discussion to the doorstep of the Christian church in Kenya, relating sexuality to theology by focusing on a combination of art, religion and activism. The subject has always been criminalized, taboo, hidden and often feared. This bold exposition complicates normative African religious understanding with a dose of queer theology. I may say that this work is very courageous and confrontational towards the conventional theological practice in Kenya. As such, the study reveals wider social anxieties and tensions. The author weaves together gospel themes of love and persecution on the one hand, and resistance, vulnerability, acceptance and rejection on the other. He subtly poses the question of liberation and triumph and in my view indirectly equates these concerns with the persecution of the Christian church in the early century.
The book brings together much information often separated by interdisciplinary boundaries. An interesting addition is its ecclesiastical and regional approach. There is much literature on a similar subject in Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria, but far less in Kenya, which is considered to have the ‘least drama’ in LGBT issues. Yet, today, LGBT issues are a central concern of religious leaders, politicians, journalists and academics. Generally, sexuality studies in Kenya are moving quickly from academic to public spheres. Ultimately, most of the decisive research discoveries have been informed by a history of breaking silences through an emphasis on voice and speaking out, and that is what Van Klinken achieves.
In relation to the above, I make a few observations. First, readers could benefit from wider coverage of the historical journey and factors that have made it possible for LGBT issues in Kenya to be a subject of academic and public interest. For instance, how has the internationalization of sexual rights and identities, the rights movement, and increasing demands for basic equality since the end of the Cold War influenced new expressions of sexual orientation in many urban areas of Africa? What about the impact of the global widening of freedom of the media and the widespread use of the internet and social media on the liberalization of sexual rights and identities?
Second, we can observe important trends in Kenyan urban youth deploying music and clothing styles in order to form new subcultural youth identities that are seen as acts of resistance against dominant African cultures. How are these shifts in youth culture related to the religious aspects discussed in the book? Van Klinken demonstrates that religion fuels repression while also becoming a springboard for LGBT activism. Further evidence on the links between Christian theology and community activism would be welcome.
Even though the author denies idolizing the late Binyavanga Wainaina (p. 33), the whole book somehow ends up like an intellectual tribute to this ‘legendary’ LGBT crusader and ‘queer prophet’. The book examines the works of this well-known Kenyan author and journalist in its introductory chapters. It describes his contribution as a secular intervention that creates new windows of opportunity. It inspires discussions by artist George Barasa, the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church and the characters in the Stories of Our Lives anthology of short films. Directly or indirectly, the book is replete with references to Wainaina, thus implying the centrality of this author's influence on the changes the book describes. The way in which the author ‘baptizes’ Wainaina as a prophet to theorize religious experience is not always persuasive; the fact that Wainaina contests Pentecostalism or homophobia does not make him an authority on theology.
This book is a ground-breaking piece and addresses a controversial theme in the history of sexuality studies in Africa. As such, it will certainly provide momentum for local LGBT activists to break the silences surrounding sexuality and to ‘claim the ownership and control of their own bodies’.Footnote 3 It is committed to challenging normative concepts of culture and tradition that impinge on sexual and reproductive rights in Africa. I hope that this useful study will inspire new interest in this much neglected area in African studies. I am not a scholar of theology but I am certain that this book will be met with rage and great controversy. Previously, LGBT issues have been discussed outside the church as a secular ‘problem’, where they have often clashed with politicians’ views and agendas. Now, they have been portrayed in this book as an issue in direct confrontation with theology in Kenya.
