Kenyan writer Binuavanga Wainaina ‘comes out’ in online article

Leading Kenyan author Binuavanga Wainaina has taken a stand against the increasing number of anti-gay laws in Africa by ‘coming out’ as a homosexual in a new article to mark his 43rd birthday. The writer made the personal confession in a short story titled, I Am a Homosexual, Mum, which was published online on Saturday (18Jan14).
He wrote, “Nobody, nobody, ever in my life has heard this. Never, mum. I did not trust you, mum. And. I. Pulled air hard and balled it down into my navel, and let it out slow and firm, clean and without bumps out of my mouth, loud and clear over a shoulder, into her ear. ‘I am a homosexual, mum.'”
Wainaina, who won the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing for his story Discovering Home, described the article as a “lost chapter” from his 2011 memoir One Day I Will Write About This Place.
Homosexual acts are banned in Kenya and a similar bill was recently passed in Nigeria, while Ugandan politicians have also approved a bill imposing life sentences for anyone caught engaging in same-sex relations.