The Kenyan singer, part of the wildly popular Sauti Sol, faced hatred and threats but it made him determined to push for change in a country where being gay is still illegal
Coming out as gay was not something Willis Austin Chimano, a member of the Kenyan Afropop band Sauti Sol, had ever considered. From about 2005, when the group – widely considered to be Africa’s biggest boyband – was formed, to 2018, Chimano says he “wore a mask” at work, careful how he acted, spoke and dressed.
At the same time, he embraced his queer identity in his private life.
