With homosexuality illegal in Kenya, its capital Nairobi is an unlikely – and potentially dangerous – place to openly host an LGBT film festival celebrating gay culture.

But on Thursday night, a young crowd packed into an auditorium in the city centre to attend the Out festival, an event hailed as a key step towards encouraging public discourse on LGBT issues in the country.

On the opening night of the four-day programme, festival goers watched the British film Pride, based on the true story of a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners’ strike in 1984, and an episode of American sci-fi series Sense8, depicting transgendered and interracial couples.

But there were no Kenyan films on offer. The award winning production, Stories of our Lives, which tracked the lives of members of the LGBT community in Kenya, was banned in 2014 by the country’s film board after it claimed the documentary “promotes homosexuality, which is contrary to national norms and values”.

Anthony Oluoch, executive director of the Gay Kenya Trust, told the Guardian: “It’s a shame really that our own film will not be on show here.”



“We feel the best way to reach the masses and to get society to understand sexual and gender orientation is through the arts, and it would have been best for them to see a Kenyan film which shows we are not asking for anything special from society, only understanding,” he said.

Men kissing in Nairobi. In 2014 Kenyan authorities banned a film on the LGBT community, because it ‘promoted homosexuality’ Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Still, despite ongoing prejudice and reports of physical attacks on LGBT citizens, Kenya has not taken the path neighbouring Uganda, which in February 2014 drew global attention after the enactment of draconian anti-homosexuality legislation.

In Nairobi, the very existence of the Out film festival is seen as cause for celebration within the gay community.

Following the screenings, Ian Govendir, founder of the Aids Orphan UK Trust and an active participant in the gay rights movement in the 80s gave a short talk, urging local activists to build broader coalitions.

This triggered a long debate with some of the young audience memberes, who argued Kenya’s gay rights movement needed to show solidarity with other elements of society, and that it would gain more credibility if it joined marches organised by groups such as the teachers union which has staged a major strike.

The film festival comes soon after a historic visit by President Obama to Kenya, where he offered a robust defence of gay rights. “When you start treating people differently, because they’re different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode. And bad things happen,” he said during a speech at the state house in the capital.

But reports suggest a majority of Kenyans find homosexuality “unacceptable”, with Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta attracting strong support from the public when he dismissed gay rights as a “non-issue” during a televised press conference with President Obama.

However, a more progressive constitution enacted in 2010 has seen local courts issue judgments protecting the rights of minorities, and has cleared the way for activists and campaigners to fight for the respect and acceptance of Kenya’s gay community.