“The (board) cannot, therefore, allow lesbian content to be accessed by children in Kenya.”

Film director Wanuri Kahiu said: “I’m really disappointed because Kenyans already have access to watch films that have LGBT content, on Netflix, and in international films shown in Kenya and permitted by the classification board itself.”

“So to then just ban a Kenyan film because it deals with something already happening in society just seems like a contradiction,” she told Reuters. Story highlights "Rafiki," a movie about love between two women, has been banned in Kenya

The film board said the movie intends to promote lesbianism in the country

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) A movie about love between two women has been banned in Kenya, ahead of its premiere at international film festival Cannes. The Kenya Film Classification Board announced the ban on Friday and said in a tweet: “Anyone found in its possession will be in breach of law”, referring to a colonial-era Kenyan law under which gay sex is punishable by 14 years in jail. Many countries across Africa have laws against homosexuality, with people facing severe harassment and physical threats. “I think that there are discerning audiences not only in Kenya but the entire world that are able to judge what’s good and bad and it’s not what’s defined by the Kenya Film Classification board,” the film’s director told The Associated Press. Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, who directed the movie, took to Twitter to express her disappointment, saying,"We believe adult Kenyans are mature and discerning enough to watch local content but their right has been denied." The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission argues that the sections are in breach of the constitution and deny basic rights by criminalizing consensual same-sex relations between adults.
The Kenya Film Classification Board bans the lesbian romance film Rafiki saying it intends to "promote lesbianism".