George Barasa

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George Barasa
Bornc. 1990
Nairobi, Kenya

George Barasa is a Kenyan artist, musician, singer, and LGBTQ+ and human rights activist in exile in Canada.[1] Barasa worked as an intern at Centre for Human Rights and as a social media manager at AMSHeR in South Africa. He is currently an undergraduate student at York University for Human Rights and Equity program

Early years and career[edit]

George Barasa was born in 1990 in Nairobi, Kenya, and raised in Bungoma, a town located in Bungoma County. As a gospel musician and singer & is well known for making an appearance in an LGBTIQ song Same Love Remix by Art Attack.[2] Barasa performed under the stage name Joji Baro. In August 2013 Jojibaro was featured on the cover of The Wire magazine while he was an activist at Out in Kenya.[3] He co-founded the first LGBTIQ church in Kenya a year later after leaving OiK.[4] He was appointed Kuchu Times Kenya Correspondent in 2015.[5] Later on, Barasa was named key people fighting homophobia and transphobia in Africa by Huffpost,[6] featured in a photo exhibition "Love is not a crime" in Bilbao, Spain by Amnesty International, Nominated and finalist of David Kato Vision and Visual-Kaleidoscope Award 2016.[7] After appearing in the first gay music video from Kenya the now banned viral Same Love (remix) of Macklemore song,[8] he feared for his life was in danger and fled to South Africa which promptly rejected him before he found refuge in Canada where he is now in exile.[9] most recently a recipient of Poz-TO[10][11]

Personal life[edit]

On May 14, 2011, The Star disclosed George Barasa's sexual orientation and allegations of dating a Catholic priest.,[12] unofficially and forcefully as a gay man. Joji Baro eventually came out as the first gay to revealed that he was HIV-positive in Kenya on K24. As of January 2023 the video clip of his coming out had been removed after over 58,000 views on Youtube.[13][citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Musician hunted in Kenya, humiliated in South Africa, at home in Canada". November 15, 2019.
  2. ^ "KENYA: Gay Gospel Artist Joji Baro and Rapper Noti Flow Speak Out Following the Ban on their Pro-Lesbian/Gay Song 'Same Love' ⚜ Latest music news online". mdundo.com. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  3. ^ "WIRE July/August 2013 by Wire magazine - Issuu". issuu.com. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  4. ^ Mwangi, Githae (2014-03-28). "Gospel Artist Opens Nairobi's First Homosexual Church". Nairobi Wire. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  5. ^ Editor, Kuchu Times (2017-06-20). "Kuchu Times' Kenyan Correspondent George Barasa Attacked". Kuchu Times. Retrieved 2023-01-21. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ "Meet The People Fighting Homophobia And Transphobia In Africa". HuffPost. 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  7. ^ Semple, Ross; jane (2017-04-05). "Activist Profile | George Barasa: "When I was outed, my family tried to eject me from the home I had known for almost 20 years."". Attitude. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  8. ^ "Ban on sexy music video raises gay rights campaign profile in Kenya". Reuters. 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  9. ^ Germaner, Shain. "Homophobic affairs: leaving SA was painful, but he 'had no choice'". Sunday Times Daily. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  10. ^ Mwenesi, Susan (2023-01-18). "Kenyan gay activist George Barasa wins HIV advocacy award in Canada". Tuko.co.ke - Kenya news. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  11. ^ Carl, Harold. "Gay Dating". Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  12. ^ "#OurStories: "I never came out; I was outed" - George Barasa". The Rustin Times. 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  13. ^ Muhonja, Besi Brillian; M’Baye, Babacar (2022-07-07). Gender and Sexuality in Kenyan Societies: Centering the Human and the Humane in Critical Studies. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-6669-1748-2.
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