Research about homosexuality in Kenya suggests it’s not just a decadent foreign influence, and it’s not confined to tourists at the Coast. And one thing is certain: pretending it doesn’t exist has its consequences.
It’s hard to imagine a Kenya where homosexuality is viewed as anything but a moral and religious abomination. The majority still link it to foreign influences or drug abuse, or dismiss it as a perverted habit practised in upper class social cliques.
As the national debate intensifies, interviews with a few gay Kenyans, and five years of research conducted by the Kemri/Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, challenge these bedrock cultural and religious beliefs around homosexuality.
Specifically, the research paints a picture of a nation in denial about the prevalence of homosexuality. It also warns of the consequences of adopting an “if you ignore it, it doesn’t exist” attitude where the spread of HIV is concerned, because religious and cultural norms drive the practice so far underground, heterosexuals may be at even greater risk.
The research is yielding some surprising and sobering information about how the sexual practices of a few can have far-reaching implications.
In short, it’s quite likely that homosexuality in Kenya has already had a significant impact on the health and sexuality of the broader population. In fact, the 2007 Kenya Aids Indicator Survey (KAIS) found that 15 per cent of new HIV infections occur through homosexual activity.
“The great question is, how do we prevent the spread of the disease in this minority but extremely high risk group when we won’t even communicate about it?” asks Dr Eduard Sanders who directs the Wellcome Trust research.
Craft a message
“While it might be easier to get to the male sex workers, how do we craft a message for their clients who go a long way to maintain their anonymity? The first step would be to overcome the stigma and our homophobia,” he says.
The key to this issue is defining just who this elusive “client” is. Intriguingly, the perception that most men who pay for sex with Kenyan male sex workers are foreigners is false. You may be astonished that Kemri researchers found the majority (81 per cent) of male clients for Kenyan male sex workers were Kenyan.
And these male sex workers are generally mobile, selling their services to a diverse group of other men all over Kenya. The researchers identified 39 locations all over Kenya where men bought male sex, not just in the coastal areas, as is generally assumed.
On Kenya’s Coast, Kemri/Wellcome Trust researchers focused on the sexual practices of some of Kenya’s most “at risk” populations. They include commercial sex workers (both male and female), people who have had a sexually transmitted disease in the past, discordant couples (where one person is HIV-positive and the other is not) and men who have sex with men.
Such are a particularly vulnerable group because they participate in the riskiest form of sexual contact for the transmission of HIV. And there’s another complicating factor; many of these men don’t consider themselves homosexual, further eroding a psychological connection to their activities and raising the stakes in terms of risk-taking.
The official tally from a Mombasa survey of male sex workers in 2007 stood at 739, though the actual figure could be much higher because many of these men avoid interacting with researchers.
But despite their inherently higher physical risk of contracting HIV, the researchers found that condom and lubricant use among the male sex workers is low. For instance, 42 per cent of the male sex workers had not used a condom with their last male client. Overall, 48 per cent said their condom use was inconsistent.
Researchers attribute this low rate of condom use to what they called a “dismal” level of basic knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention. Many of them did not know that HIV could be spread through unprotected sex, and many said they didn’t use lubrication because it was too costly. It’s no wonder, then, that the 2007 Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey found that the 15 per cent of all new HIV infections in Kenya are from men who have sex with men.
But perhaps the most sobering finding echoes a trend that shows no sign of slowing. Most of these male sex workers are bisexual, meaning they regularly have sex with both men and women. More importantly, many of these men had travelled a torturous path, often existing on the fringes of society whether they are still sex workers or in committed long-term relationships.
Just ask a 33-year-old gay man we’ll call Elijah. He grew up in a polygamous family in Nyanza Province. Elijah’s journey to adolescent self-discovery was unlike that of his peers. “I knew I was different because I felt attracted to other boys,” he says.
But he couldn’t really pinpoint what was happening to him until he was about 14 years old, when his biology teacher mentioned that there were some men who preferred being with other men.
“Well, that’s me,” Elijah remembers thinking. Despite his curiosity, he didn’t ask for more information, fearing teasing from his peers.
Outside the classroom, Elijah heard very little on the topic. “There was this mad man from our village who people said liked other men, so I grew up thinking that since I like other men, too, I would also wind up mad,” he says.
Religion was yet another source of conflict; Elijah believed he was condemned. He was torn between the need to be himself and the longing for acceptance from society.
This gruelling internal tug-of-war pushed Elijah to try and change his orientation. First he turned to the church, seeking “deliverance.” But he says that was discouraging: “After coming back from the mountains where we fasted and prayed for four days, I still felt the same.” At the age of 17, Elijah sought a more permanent “solution” — suicide. Two attempts failed. He moved to Kisumu at the age of 18 where he worked shining shoes. Elijah’s new friends quickly noticed he didn’t socialise much with girls.
They tried matchmaking, which Elijah allowed. “I thought being with a woman, might help me become ‘straight’,” he says.
But not only was this first sexual experience unsatisfying, the girl also got pregnant. Elijah was saddled with the twins as the mother wanted nothing to do with them.
Because further interactions with women proved futile, Elijah was back to the drawing board. His friends suggested that he tries being with a man this time round, and Elijah had his first homosexual encounter at the age of 19.
Of this, he says: “It was the most satisfying experience I had ever had in my life.”
But like many of his counterparts, Elijah noticed a gut-wrenching trend among his early homosexual partners — they had wives.
“Most of these men had pushed themselves to marry due to societal pressure, and they were using their wives as covers,” Elijah says.
Elijah moved to Mombasa at age 20, where he’s been in a committed relationship with another man from Nyanza for the last seven years. He says his boyfriend has been very supportive in raising his now 14-year-old twins.
Elijah’s story hints that, just perhaps, some people are gay by way of being. His story also seems to challenge the common belief that homosexuality is a lifestyle adopted by a few rich, Westernized Kenyans.
Few expect a poignant personal story to change deeply-rooted cultural and religious beliefs that flatly condemn homosexuality in Kenya. It seems clear, based on the vociferously negative public debate that homosexuality will remain in the shadows for the time being.
That’s why outreach and advocacy are critically needed by Kenyan homosexuals. It might seem obvious that any national HIV prevention strategy would include a strong focus on homosexual behaviour.
But that takes the conversation back to an overall “if you ignore it, it doesn’t exist” premise.
African countries
As in most African countries, Kenya’s policy and programmatic responses to HIV prevention have focused primarily on reducing heterosexual and mother-to-child transmission. Indeed, adult HIV transmission and risk have only been associated to vaginal sex and heterosexual promiscuity
“It struck us that in the 25 years that Kenya had been battling the HIV epidemic, no one had tried targeting anal sex for preventing HIV transmission,” says Dr. Sanders of the Kemri/Wellcome Trust Programme. “Yet we knew it happens and not just in the homosexual community, but also among some heterosexual couples.”
But Dr Sanders warns that ignoring this reality is a grievous mistake on the part of the Government. “A HIV prevention strategy that does not encompass anal health is simply incomplete,” he says.
Statistics seem to have slightly swayed the Government’s stand. The National AIDS/STD Control Council (NASCOP) will be designing a poster to educate the public on anal health.
However, more rigorous action is needed due to the extreme stigmatisation of homosexuality in Kenya. Mr Jacob Mikwali, the director of Ishtar MSM, a support group for gay Kenyan men, describes repeated instances of blatant discrimination against gay men from within medical circles.
“We have had numerous cases of our members being turned away by doctors who say it is against their moral conviction to treat gay men,” he says. “Others are ridiculed and laughed out of the doctors offices if they come in with an anal STI.”
Mikwale says that these men deserve basic fundamental rights like health care, regardless of why they engage in homosexual behaviour.
Mr Allan Muhaari, a counsellor with the Kemri/Wellcome Trust program, says the Government must properly educate all its healthcare providers.
“All we are asking of the Government, is to make sure that all Kenyans can access equal sexual healthcare in spite of their sexual orientation,” he says.
“And perhaps the easiest way to do that would be to include anal health care into the healthcare curriculum.”
Change beliefs
In short, the researchers who study homosexual activity in Kenya aren’t out to change your religious or moral beliefs.
They are simply advising that collectively burying our heads in the sand ignores a threat to the nation’s overall health that can’t be categorised as moral, cultural, or religious. It is simply lethal.
And of the “gay lifestyle,” community activist Mikwali says; “We are here, we are Kenyan, we are your brothers, your uncles or even your husbands, and so we better find a way to live together.”
Source: Daily Nation
