NAIROBI, Kenya— The Kenya Film Classification Board recently banned the documentary film “I am Samuel” about a religious gay man’s struggle for acceptance from his family and country, sparking debate on the rights of the LGBTQ community as well as interpretations of the Bible on same-sex relationships.

“The Board restricted this film from showing within the Republic of Kenya because of the producer’s clear and deliberate attempt to promote same-sex marriage agenda as an acceptable way of life,” the film board’s acting CEO Christopher Wambua said when he announced the ban.

The film depicts two men, Samuel and Alex, kissing, confessing that the love they feel for each other is normal and, eventually, marrying. Samuel’s father is a local pastor and does not initially accept his son’s sexuality. The film ends with a dedication to the LGBTQ community.

Speaking immediately after the ban, the award-winning producer of the film, Peter Murimi, expressed his disappointment, saying he had hoped the film would allow for constructive dialogue about LGBTQ rights in Kenya and other African countries.

"The film demonstrates how much we have in common,” he said in a statement. “We all fall in love, we all contend with family expectations. The main difference is that Samuel, our main character, had to reckon with homophobia and violence.”

LGBTQ people in the East African country face social ostracism at minimum and at the extreme, violence and even death. Gay sex is treated as a crime in Kenyan law, punishable by up to 14 years in prison in a penal code dating to 1897.

In many instances, those opposed to LGBTQ rights stress that Kenya is a Christian nation and that such practices have no place there. In 2019, about 86% of Kenyans identified as Christian while 11% identified as Muslim, according to the U.S. State Department.

“Those are people under demonic powers,” said pastor Zeinab Hussein of Latter Glory Church. “The Bible says that in the last days people will be consumed by the lustful desires and that they will follow those desires. That is when they finally receive Christ and get deliverance (and) look back and wonder at what they were doing.”

Pastor Juliette Karahaho has been reaching out to the LBGTQ community for about 10 years through her organization Life Salvage, but an incident in September made her redouble her efforts. She heard about a gay man who was an alcoholic. The man would drug his victims, sexually assault them and then disappear. One night, the drugs did not work well on his victim, and the man woke and yelled for help. A mob beat the offender, and when he rushed home, his father disowned him. He committed suicide afterward.

“This is a situation that would have been prevented,” Karahalo said. “I have also seen people even in church discriminating against people because of sexual orientation. John 3:16 tells us that God loved the whole world and gave Jesus for all of us, the gays included. Our work as followers of Christ is to show love and not condemnation.”

A leading Nairobi fashionista and transgender activist, Letoya Johnstone, said she feels she is not welcome in either a church or a mosque, but she is working with religious leaders to correct the situation.

“I don't feel welcome because the Bible and the religious leaders feels like persons like myself are either evil or don't live by God's standards,” Johnstone said. “This is the reason we are involving most religious leaders in training them, so that they may see us as human beings before looking at us through the lenses of the Bible. … They call us sinners or (say that we are) doing acts that are sinful. Those statements influence how people treat us in the society.”

Johnstone pointed out that Kenyan political leaders have looked to the Bible and religious leaders to inform laws and government policies, including the constitution of the country written at its founding.

Ace Africa is a nonprofit working with the LGBTQ community in various parts of Kenya. According to its  communications officer, Peter Orengo, it is a tough life for LGBTQ people in Kenya.

“The biggest issue here is culture,” he said. “Many of them cannot live in the open because of stigmatization. There are parts of the country where people still believe that HIV/AIDS is a myth, and we have witnessed cases where those who are HIV positive were chased away from their homes. The situation is worse for the gays and lesbians, and we try our best to help them live quietly in their communities.”

Dayo Atieno is openly lesbian and also the advocacy officer for the nonprofit Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination.

“It is unfortunate that the lived realities of the LGBTQ (community) is something that a lot of folks still want to shy away from,” she said. “Stories like that of Samuel gives us the LGBTQ human face — stories that should be told loudly for the society to see that just like everyone else, we also have a life.”

Kenya’s laws about media and homosexuality

A colonial-era law, Article 165 of Kenya’s penal code outlaws homosexuality, while provisions in the Films and Stage Plays Act (Cap. 222) require licensing and authorization from the government Film Classification Board before audio-visual content can be created or distributed.

Kenya has been an independent country for 55 years, and its current constitution is in its 11th year.

Wambua, the film board’s CEO, has argued that any film or broadcast content that appears to “legalize, advocate, normalize or glorify” gay sex contradicts the law on homosexuality and is therefore unacceptable. He has also argued that the the film “I am Samuel” demeans Christianity because the two men depicted in the film marry in a religious ceremony.

“We appeal to the media, religious organizations, the public and other like-minded institutions to support the Board’s clarion call for creation and consumption of content that promotes Kenya's moral values and national aspirations. Working in concert is critical in ensuring that we protect children from exposure to inappropriate content,” Wambua said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch also waded into the debate. In an opinion piece on the HWR website, Neela Goshal, associate director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program, said: 

On September 23, Kenya’s Film Censorship Board (KFCB) slapped a ban on “I Am Samuel,” claiming the film contravenes Kenyan values. Which values? During my years living in Kenya, the values I saw in action every day included care and kindness, tolerance, and openness to difference. Kenya is diverse in every way: geographically, ethnically, religiously, and, yes, in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity. For over a decade, LGBT people have publicly staked out their place within Kenya’s vibrant social fabric, challenging discrimination and claiming their rights.

Meanwhile, Nairobi lawyer Masngya Muema has argued that Kenya’s constitution passed in 2010 overrides the colonial-era prohibition of homosexuality.

“The sections quoted by the (film board) CEO outlaw bestiality and not homosexuality,” Muema said. “In 2010 we passed what has been hailed as one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. In that document every citizen is allowed to exercise their full freedoms, homosexuality included.”

Despite differing interpretations of the constitution, courts in Kenya upheld the criminalization of homosexuality in 2019 after LGBTQ groups filed a petition in 2016.

“I am Samuel” released in 2020 and will continue screening at several international festivals this fall. In Africa. it can be watched at AfriDocs.

Tom Osanjo is a Nairobi-based correspondent for Religion Unplugged. He is a former parliamentary reporter and has covered sports, politics and more for Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.