Binyavanga Wainaina didn’t just come out, he did it in style

If Wikipedia decided it was worth to put my bio in their “free encyclopedia”, I would share a few “keywords” with Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina.

We were both born in Nakuru in the ‘70s and attended primary schools in the town around the same time. He “became” a journalist and I found that I was one as well. But then in 2002, he won the Caine Prize, one of the most coveted writing awards, for his short story “Discovering Home.”

Like many Kenyans, I followed Binyavanga’s story in the media as he was bestowed with various honours. We saw him launch Kwani?, said to have been the first literary magazine in East Africa since Transition Magazine.

For many of us, he was suddenly up there with the rest of Kenya’s “people” who had made history. And he has the sort of name that makes people go like, “What’s that guy’s name again...the guy for ‘Kwani?’...oh yes Binyavanga.”

And then comes January 19, 2014. Africa seems to have woken up with a headache and decided that homosexual men and women are responsible for it. Binyavanga Wainaina, a leading Kenyan author reveals a lost chapter from his 2011 memoir, “One Day I Will Write About This Place.” There is a line in this chapter that sends The Guardian, The New Yorker and BBC to his doorstep.

“I, Binyavanga Wainaina, quite honestly swear I have known I am a homosexual since I was five.”

“Binyavanga Wainaina Comes Out” barks The New Yorker.

“Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainana declares: I am Gay”, says The Guardian. BBC follows suit with an analytical article. Social media explodes. Then he gets new titles “Kenyan Gay Writer Binyavanga”. “Kenyan Controversial Gay Author.” The tabloids take it to another level. He is labeled.

So began 2014 for “Ken”.

The year is ending. Binyavanga is still there. Blogger Marta Tveit said it on Think Africa Press on December 19. Binyavanga Wainaina didn’t just come out. He came out in style. Oh, there was a “manifesto” that he released on YouTube that I forgot to mention and that Marta Tveit seems to be so excited about in her blog. Actually, she details a timeline between January 19 and January 25 when she says mainstream media took up the story.

So what am I trying to say? That Binyavanga is still there and still being listened to tells a lot about how far Africa has come. He came out and no one tried to pound him to a pulp. At least, not in public. That is progress.