With the exception of South Africa, whose constitution bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, most countries treat homosexuality as illegal and punish its practice with lengthy prison sentences. African leaders actively oppose gay rights and seem personally repulsed that some of their citizens may be gay. Such prejudice is commonplace. Many Africans see homosexuality as simply un-African, a custom introduced by European settlers and practiced by tourists. When two gay male tourists were suspected of arranging a wedding last year in Lamu, a coastal town in Kenya, a mob of 2,000 hounded them, forcing them to hide in a hall of a museum where the ceremony was to take place.
People get angry when they hear about it.
In an atmosphere of hostility, honesty is usually impossible. But he has been in a gay relationship for the past five years and hides his sexuality from his wife, two children and co-workers for fear of being ostracized. I was gay she would die. Like Ochilo, Kinyanjui, who is a Nairobi-based marketing manager, is careful whom he tells about his sexual orientation. When colleagues at a former job discovered he was gay, some threatened to quit and others began cleaning the phone every time he used it.