Patrick Gathara drew this cartoon in 2009 to note the one-year anniversary of a power-sharing agreement between President Mwai Kibaki (R) and Raila Odinga (L). Gay marriage was in the news in Kenya because two Kenyan men had recently married in Britain. Gathara's message: "Gay marriage is not new in Kenya. We've had it for at least a year." His editors refused to publish the cartoon.
If you have a pulse and spend any time online, you know how much humor and satire gets spread around each day. If you're offended by something, you just have to find (or create) a new hashtag or put in a few search words and you'll find something that suits you.
It's a little different in a place like Kenya. Mainstream (call it legacy) media still holds sway there and if you're a political cartoonist for the country's largest newspaper, you reach millions of Kenyans with each rendering. That's the case for Patrick Gathara, a cartoonist for The Daily Nation and the topic he cartoons and writes about that really steams his readers is gay rights in Kenya. "Most people in the country are quite homophobic actually. I think one of the roles of the cartoonist is to challenge society, not just mirror it."
In Kenya, gay sex is punishable by up to 14 years in prison and gay people in the country regularly talk about attacks, kidnappings, extortion and police harassment. Gathara gets angry emails and letters whenever he touches on the issue of gay rights in Kenya. Some typical comments:
"Homosexuality is an import."
"It's part of a western agenda."
"It's 'un-African'."
That last one really irks Gathara. "I've made the point that homosexuality is not un-African. It's very much part of Africa throughout the ages. There were homosexual people throughout Africa. We are not an exception to the world." But Gathara thinks the 'un-African' trope is especially toxic because it seems to buy into an offensive colonial era notion. "This idea of an African culture is what is the imposition," says Gathara. "The idea that were were pristine. Well, to use a term that is a bit offensive, noble savages, is what is itself an imposition. We have actually switched places and we are defending that which was imposed under the misconception that it was originally what we had."
In 2009, two Kenyan men married in London. "It made a lot of news back home. A lot of people came out condeming them, 'this is painting Kenyans in a bad light!', 'It shouldn't be happening!', all that rubbish. What I did was turn it on its head." Gathara drew a cartoon to note the one-year anniversary of a power-sharing agreement between then President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. It portrayed the two political leaders as two men getting married. "My point was that gay marriage is not new in Kenya. We've had it for at least a year." His newspaper refused to publish it but Gathara snuck it into a later exhibit of his work.
For the record, lots of Gathara's cartoons are spiked. Cartoons about religious leaders, anything about Islam. And Gathara says he isn't just trying to push his countrymen's buttons. Nor is pushing a personal agenda. Gathara's married — to a woman. They have two kids. He genuinely wants to try to change Kenyans' attitudes.
"I think I'm pushing other people to actually stand up and say that we need to protect every Kenyan, every African, irrespective of what their affiliations are, what their sexual orientation is. It shouldn't really matter when it comes to simply saying that everybody should have equal rights."
This past summer, a social media frenzy ensued in the weeks leading up to President Obama's visit. The hashtag #KenyansMessagetoObama was trending. Typical tweets: "Don't lecture us on gay marriage" and "That gay vibe should remain in America". A few Kenyan cartoonists warned Obama not to impose a western agenda on Kenya. President Uhuru Kenyatta weighed in, saying gay rights was a 'non-issue'. Gathara responded with a cartoon portraying Kenyatta standing on top of gay people. The point: gay rights isn't a non-issue if you're a gay Kenyan.
"I did get lots of people commenting that I shouldn't talk about it. You should ignore this. We should all be celebrating Obama. And I think is it very much shows how society is unwilling to tackle this issue. I think cartoonists need to do quite a bit more, and journalists — to actually challenge these attitudes and get laws in place to protect gay people."
Gathara does not think of himself as especially courageous. He's ashamed he hasn't done more about gay rights. But one of the things he has planned is an exhibit of LGBT cartoons in Nairobi.
Follow Patrick Gathara on Twitter @gathara.