“To be seen, have unabashed fun and be liberated”: A Kenyan party celebrates queer joy

Image description: A portrait of the Kenyan musician Ashton Laurence against a backdrop of the city of Nairobi at night.

Nairobi, Kenya (Minority Africa) — Though he may not remember, the first time I met Ashton Laurence was backstage at a music showcase in Nairobi last December. He was touching up his make-up, preparing to go on stage in a blonde wig, glitter mesh sleeves, and a long red train. 

Moments later, as I watched him on stage, performing his hit single “Only Fan,”  which, in his words, “is really the gayest possible pop song,” I immediately saw the talented pop star he is. 

I had heard about Laurence eight months earlier in April. The 25-year-old made rounds on social media when American popstar Nicki Minaj reposted videos of a group of party revellers in Nairobi singing her songs at a Nicki Minaj-themed party named The Barbz Nite. 

The party was one of the many that Laurence and his team organised under the Wunderlust Parties, a safe space for queer people in Nairobi to party.

“Back then, it was known as Ashton Laurence’s Wunderlust Party,” says Laurence. “We started in 2019, following the desire to share my music as a performing artist at a time when I wasn’t given opportunities because I was new in the industry and had an openly queer artistic identity,”

When Laurence and his best friends first organised acoustic performances to promote his debut project, Wunderlust, their first audience had only eight attendees. Since then, they have grown a fanbase keen on new sounds outside the mainstream, transforming the event into a platform for showcasing artists and DJs. But Wunderlust is more than this. 

In a country where being queer is still outlawed, Wanderlust is one of the very few safe queer spaces in Kenya, curated to celebrate queer joy and existence. Early editions like The Eleganza Extravaganza Ball introduced the ballroom scene to Nairobi. Another edition, The Glitter Ball gave a platform to queer artists in music, ballroom, drag and dance to celebrate Pride Month.

“Barbz Nite was the first Wunderlust party my friends and I attended,” says Gianna*, a trans artist who lives in Nairobi. “I have been to a lot of parties in Nairobi and Kilifi. Most of them are usually private to ensure security for those who are invited, but Wunderlust is different because there are a lot of people, and you don’t have to know someone to be invited. You can just let go without feeling afraid because it’s just pure vibes.”

According to 28-year-old Gianna, “For trans people like me, we constantly have to fight for space. There’s a lot of negativity and judgement out here on the streets for queer people that we have to deal with every day, and it is honestly exhausting. So, at the end of the day, I like to be somewhere where I can just enjoy being alive without having to fight.”

To understand why Wunderlust is important for queer organising in Kenya, I take you back to 2019 on a hot May afternoon in Nairobi, where I sat in a crowded courtroom listening to a three-judge bench imply that the inequality and discrimination around section 162 of the penal code of Kenya, criminalising sexual activities between adults of the same sex, was merely perceived and imaginary. 

All around me, I watched as hearts sank and hopes for a legally safer country for queer Kenyans were dashed as the judges refused to repeal the section. I remember – the hundred-plus of – us leaving the courtroom in stunned silence. Some crying, but most unable to meet each other’s eyes—shocked, angry, and mostly afraid. We all somehow ended up sitting in the garden of a queer-friendly organisation’s office. 

“The ‘Repeal 162’ judgement was one of my most shocking moments that year, honestly. We had been talking about it within the queer spaces a lot before that judgement and I was so ready to have it repealed,” says Gianna. “I think we did not realise until then that a lot of people in the country are still very homophobic, so the judgement came as a rude reminder to us.”

That was five years ago. Since then, the queer community in Kenya has won smaller legal battles, including an appeal judgement against the use of forced anal examinations used on men suspected of being gay and the registration of The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) as a non-governmental organisation. Still, despite being appealed, complete decriminalisation of same-sex relationships remains elusive with little prospect. 

Amid all the chaos and uncertainties that is Kenya, queer organising in Kenya presently involves, among many other facets, celebrating queer joy through individual and institutional efforts. 

“I believe that now more than ever that many people want to be seen, have unabashed fun, escape reality and be liberated and that’s what I am lucky to create and grow space for in person and online,”  says Laurence. “I am grateful that I get to entertain, empower and enlighten the world while flamboyantly and confidently showcasing Black queer excellence.” 

Queer joy organising as a concept and act of resistance has evolved globally and in Kenya since its inception. Audre Lorde and many other scholars have written about how self-love can be used against oppression. 

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This Nigerian anthology on queer joy wants to make you “Feel Good”

In Kenya, queer joy organising can be traced to the promulgation of the new constitution in 2010, which brought hope for a lot of minority groups in Kenya as it came with tools for the enforcement of rights. This encouraged a lot of queer groups and individuals to come out in the open to demand their rights and consequentially, seek each other out outside of formal legal spaces. At the time of the #Repeal162 campaign, different queer groups had been organizing social events privately and publicly across the country.

“The importance of spaces for celebration for queer folk like The Wunderlust Party is that we finally get to live and exist freely,” says Laurence. “The main challenge is having vague laws that don’t explicitly seek to protect queer folk in case of any crimes committed to us, especially in a country that has little exposure and rampant homophobia. Navigating this is often taxing.”

Laurence believes that in the last five years, queer identity and expressions have been much easier for queer people living in Nairobi because there’s much self-confidence, community support and more public awareness promoted by safe spaces like Wunderlust and others in Kenya’s capital city.

At the time of this interview, Laurence and his group at Wunderlust were preparing for their first party of the year—an Ariana Grande-themed party. Days later, they posted short clips of Ariana Grande’s catalogue, memes and outfit inspirations for their followers on their social media pages: Did you know that a trademark Ariana Grande look is a ponytail?

The program on that Wunderlust night looked something like this. In the post-party photos and videos, Laurence is in his element voguing — the ultimate symbol of queer joy and resistance — in a black laced long sleeve and blue jeans with a glorious ponytail complete with his trademark eyeliner, with a group of the Monarchy — how his fans refer to each other. 

The future of Wunderlust Parties, Laurence says, “is world domination.” 

“I definitely look forward to transforming this into a festival celebrated like Coachella, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Rolling Loud where the queer folk and allies alike are celebrated by huge audiences, safely and loudly.”

Edited/Reviewed by Samuel Banjoko, PK Cross, Uzoma Ihejirika, Awom Kenneth and Caleb Okereke