Kenya cracks down on teenage books with gay-specific themes
The Kenyan government is cracking down on foreign books with gay content that it feels targets teenagers. This crackdown follows a public outcry from parents with school-age children and religious officials who are demanding the government to do a thorough audit of books in the market and ban the ones with gay content.
Text Book Centre, one of Kenya’s leading bookstores in Nairobi, was ordered to stop selling a controversial teen book from a renowned British publisher that specializes in children’s books. “What’s happening to me?” by Usborne publishers sparked outrage among those who feel it lures male teens into LGBTQ practices that are illegal. “It is about a month since we removed the book from our shelves and returned it to the warehouse after the retail manager received an order from the U.K.
manager,” a manager at Text Book Centre confirmed to the Washington Blade. Part of the book states “it isn’t unusual to fancy someone the same sex as you when you’re growing up.” It adds, “Usually people go on to have stronger feelings for the opposite sex, but this doesn’t always happen.” The book further states that “it’s possible to fancy both boys and girls” and then it defines lesbian and gay dating.
A group of Christian, Muslim and Hindu clerics earlier this month issued a joint statement that asked President William Ruto and his government to protect teens from so-called same-sex doctrine through books from Western countries. “We will defend the defensible moral rectitude acceptable by the majority, and frown upon any socialization that raises a mortal threat,” reads part of the statement issued on Feb.
