Kenyan author and LGBT Rights activist, Binyavanga Wainaina passes away at 48

Critically acclaimed Kenyan author and LGBT Rights activist, Binyavanga Wainaina is dead. He was 48 years old.

His family confirmed the news to local media in Kenya and reports say he died at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi on the night of Tuesday, May 22.

He had suffered a stroke before in November 2015.

His brother James told the BBC’s Peter Mwangangi, “He passed on last night at a hospital after a period of really fighting. But it is what it is now, we’re still trying to come to terms with that.”

Wainaina was a critically acclaimed author, winning the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing for Discovering Home and was the founder of the literary magazine Kwani.

In 2014, he came out in an essay that he called “the lost chapter” of his memoir, following the signing of Nigeria’s anti-gay bill into law and later that year, he was named one of TIME 100 influential people around the world. In 2016, he opened up on being HIV positive on a tweet during the observance of World Aids Day. In May 2018, he announced his plans to marry his long-time partner in South Africa.

Tributes to the African literary icon are currently pouring from around the world.

For us at The Rustin Times, we celebrate the legacy of Binyavanga Wainaina and the work that he has done for LGBT visibility across the continent. Our deepest condolences to his family and may his soul rest in peace.

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