Searching for Love Where Being Gay Is a Crime

Gay Kenyans walk the same line in the club scene. There are clubs that are known to be "gay friendly." Gypsies, for example, is sometimes referred to as Kenya's most closeted gay club. Other clubs have certain nights when the gay community knows it is welcome.

But only to a point, according to 21-year-old Paul, who, like Steve, does not want to give his real name. Paul likes a club called Tacos. He and his gay friends are allowed in "[depending] on the mood of the management," he said.

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And even at these "gayer" clubs, displaying affection openly is a big no-no. "You can hug and you can dance together," Paul said, "but no kissing, provocatively touching each other or being romantic."

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The fact that a few clubs let in homosexuals is a huge sign of progress, said Steve, who remembers how, 15 years ago when he first came out, gays in Kenya used to meet one another under far different circumstances.

"You used to go to the Stanley Hotel bar and wear a pink shirt," he said. It was a secret code to let others know you were gay and available. At that time, under the dictatorship of President Daniel Arap Moi, the threat of arrest was much greater.

"The '90s gay scene was symptomatic of everything that was wrong with this country," he said. "The scene was subdued because people were scared of eavesdropping by the regime."

The one exception to homosexual intolerance was, and continues to be, sex tourism. For several years during the Moi regime, there was a club in downtown Nairobi, frequented by British sailors and ex-pats, Steve said, where men could pick up other men, often male prostitutes.

In the coastal town of Mombasa, male prostitution continues to be part of the tourism trade without much scrutiny from the government -- or even the local community. "If you have money in this country you can do whatever you want," Steve said.

But, he added, the history and prevalence of male sex tourism in Kenya has only added to the country's general intolerance of homosexuality.

"It's a perversion of being gay," one that only confirms the idea homosexuality is "dirty" and "unnatural," Steve said.