Kenyan author and LGBT activist, Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina, is dead.
Although details about his death are still scanty, the family confirmed that the 48-year-old died on Tuesday evening at the Aga Khan hospital after a short illness.
Binyavanga was the 2002 Caine Prize winner for African Writing for his short story “Discovering Home”.
He was also awarded by the Kenya Publisher's Association in recognition of his services to Kenyan literature.
In 2014, the author revealed that he was gay, eliciting a lot of emotions from Kenyans.
“I feel no shame about being gay at all. I am not the first black man, not by any means the first African; I am not the first person in the world who has done that. Sio kitu kubwa (it’s not a big deal),” he revealed during an interview.
In his book 'One Day I Will Write About This Place' he wrote, “Nobody, nobody, ever in my life has heard this. I am a homosexual, mum.'
On October 31, 2015, the author suffered a stroke at his home and was taken to India for treatment.
Binyavanga was set to wed his Nigerian lover and had made it public through his social media platforms.
"I asked my love for his hand in marriage two weeks ago, he said yes, nearly immediately. He is Nigerian. We will be living in South Africa, where he will be studying next year. We will get married there, early next year. We will have a reception for Kenyans in Nairobi sometime next year too. Nothing has surprised me more than coming to love this person, who is gentle and has the most gorgeous heart," part of his tweet read.
