Just an art or an agenda? Kenyans question a Nairobi LGBT-colored stairway

A group of street artists has been using the walls and stairs of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, as their canvass – but one of the works has resurrected a debate about homosexuality by Kenyans on Twitter.

The painting can be found on stairs leading to the footbridge near the University of Nairobi, which have been painted in the colours of the rainbow, but at the same time resembling the LGBT community flag.

Naitiemu Nyanjom, one of the artists involved, described it as a “stairway to heaven”.

Some have accused the artists of secretly promoting homosexuality.

One person tweeted: “You start accepting the gay-pride colours you start accepting ‘queer’ people. It’s a mental conditioning gay people want, anti-gay people hate but the rest of us are just saying keep it private and out of our public spaces.”

But others people on social media have been questioning how a bit of colour can be taken out of context.

Another tweeted, “Just a little colour is added to brighten Nairobi and all of a sudden your little homophobic egos can’t stand it…..I am tired.”

This is as the High Court is due to rule in May on whether to decriminalise gay sex.

The paintings are organised by Switch-a-Roo, a cultural exchange programme between French and Kenyan artists.

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