Kevin Mwachiro
Kenya-based writer, podcaster, journalist, and queer activistKevin Mwachiro is a Kenya-based writer, podcaster, journalist, and queer activist. His professional media and communications career spans over 22 years.
Kevin describes himself as a custodian of people's stories, which is evident in his array of work. Kevin's first book, Invisible – Stories from Kenya’s Queer Community, was the first book of its kind in Kenya. He was the editorial lead for the recently launched We’ve Been Here, which documents the stories of LGBTQI Kenyans who are 50 years and older. Kevin was also part of the editorial team for Boldly Queer - African Perspectives on Same-sex Sexuality and Gender Diversity and the anthology Rainbow Childhoods.
Kevin’s short story Number Sita was published in the anthology Nairobi Noir, and his play, Thrashed, is part of the Goethe Institut’s Kenya’s “Six and the City” collection. Kevin also writes articles and opinion pieces for several media platforms and is published in various cultural journals.
In 2017, he launched a story-telling podcast called Nipe Story, which produces audio versions of short-story fictional stories from the African continent. Nipe Story has received recognition as one of Kenya’s notable podcasts.
Kevin co-founded the Out Film Festival, the first LGBTQI film festival in East Africa.
Social media handles - X and Instagram @kevmwachiro
Articles by Kevin Mwachiro
25 October 2024
A Very African Story
This is the story of a young teenage boy who would walk the streets of Nairobi on a Sunday afternoon, hoping to find someone with whom he could connect. Someone who would understand the kind of touch he needed and who would allow him to be seen as a lover and not as an abomination, curse, or illness. It's also a story of discovering a home, a home that embodies wholeness, love, compassion, dreams, authenticity, vulnerability, fun, creativity, and bravery. My name is Kevin Mwachiro. I am a Kenyan writer, podcaster, journalist and LGBTQI activist. I am that teenage boy, and I'm a proudly African. My Africa is a place of immense beauty, but it can also be dangerous for those who dare to be themselves. I chose to live my truth after being almost forced out of the closet in 2001 after I got caught kissing a guy. I had always known that I was attracted to other guys and acted on that feeling the first time when I was 16. That moment of freedom and pleasure was immediately followed by shame and guilt and hiding for over a decade. It was a struggle with self-hate, masturbation and low self-esteem. Post 2001, I was forced to look at myself in the mirror and finally admit that I was gay and for the next few years, I straddled the fence torn between desire and dogma. That period was confusing, exciting, lonely, and precarious. I say precarious because it involved having sex in risky places and with total strangers and, at times, the oddest time of the day. However, it has been here within the bosom of Mama Africa that I have fully come out into my queerness. It has been a journey with numerous therapy sessions, self-acceptance and forgiveness, and finally, finding a community of Kenya and African LGBTQI folk that I started fully embracing myself.
25 October 2024
A Very African Story
This is the story of a young teenage boy who would walk the streets of Nairobi on a Sunday afternoon, hoping to find someone with whom he could connect. Someone who would understand the kind of touch he needed and who would allow him to be seen as a lover and not as an abomination, curse, or illness. It's also a story of discovering a home, a home that embodies wholeness, love, compassion, dreams, authenticity, vulnerability, fun, creativity, and bravery. My name is Kevin Mwachiro. I am a Kenyan writer, podcaster, journalist and LGBTQI activist. I am that teenage boy, and I'm a proudly African. My Africa is a place of immense beauty, but it can also be dangerous for those who dare to be themselves. I chose to live my truth after being almost forced out of the closet in 2001 after I got caught kissing a guy. I had always known that I was attracted to other guys and acted on that feeling the first time when I was 16. That moment of freedom and pleasure was immediately followed by shame and guilt and hiding for over a decade. It was a struggle with self-hate, masturbation and low self-esteem. Post 2001, I was forced to look at myself in the mirror and finally admit that I was gay and for the next few years, I straddled the fence torn between desire and dogma. That period was confusing, exciting, lonely, and precarious. I say precarious because it involved having sex in risky places and with total strangers and, at times, the oddest time of the day. However, it has been here within the bosom of Mama Africa that I have fully come out into my queerness. It has been a journey with numerous therapy sessions, self-acceptance and forgiveness, and finally, finding a community of Kenya and African LGBTQI folk that I started fully embracing myself.
