In Cameroon, it’s a coming out that is making waves: that of King Nasty, the stage name of Brenda Biya, daughter of President Paul Biya. On June 30, 2024, the 26-year-old woman, who recently began a career as a rapper, posted on her social networks a photo of herself kissing another woman with a very tender message to her partner. It didn’t take much more to set the Cameroonian web ablaze, in this country where homosexuality is still strongly repressed by law.
2 mins
In the photo, the two young women appear in profile. But identifiable enough to recognize Brenda Biya, despite her sunglasses. The kiss with his partner is far from being fake. She captions the photo with a little message of tenderness: “ I’m crazy about you, and I want everyone to know it ” The comments section below the post is blocked, as if Brenda Biya wanted to protect herself from potentially critical reactions from her followers.
Nevertheless, her message was widely commented on the web. And among the many reactions, the very notable one from Shakiro, a famous transgender and figure of the Cameroonian LGBTQIA+ community, who was forced into exile in Belgium a few years ago. This after having suffered various attacks and detention in Cameroon because of her sexual orientation. Shakiro congratulates Brenda Biya for her courage and thanks her in substance for her coming out which could perhaps, she hopes, hasten the decriminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon.
Boris Bertolt, an online journalist also in exile, calls out the authorities in a tweet, putting them against the wall: he believes that it is time to free the twenty or so homosexuals detained in the prisons of Cameroon. Otherwise, he explains, have the president’s daughter arrested to comply with the country’s laws that penalize the practice of homosexuality with up to five years in prison.
Read alsoHomophobia in Cameroon, a legacy of German colonialism?