Kenyan author and gay rights activist Binyavanga Wainaina dies at 48

Renowned Kenyan author and gay rights activist Binyavanga Wainaina has died, a friend with direct knowledge told CNN. He was 48.

Wainaina died in a Nairobi hospital on Tuesday night following a short illness, the friend who did not want to be named said. Wainaina, the founder of the literary magazine Kwani, had previously suffered a stroke in 2015.

He was a prolific author who won the Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story Discovering Home in 2002.

Before he suffered a stroke, Wainaina had been awarded a one-year writing residency in Germany.

Wainaina was never one to shy away from controversy and was one of the most high-profile people to publicly declare their sexuality in Africa, where homosexuality is largely seen as taboo.

In a 2014 article titled I Am a Homosexual, Mum, Wainaina wrote: "Never, mum. I did not trust you, mum. And. I. Pulled air hard and balled it down into my navel, and let it out slow and firm, clean and without bumps out of my mouth, loud and clear over a shoulder, into her ear. I am a homosexual, mum."

He later tweeted that "I am, for anybody confused or in doubt, a homosexual. Gay, and quite happy."

Wainaina also announced on Twitter on Worlds Aid Day 2016 that he was HIV positive.

In a 2014 Time magazine article, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote of Wainaina: "By publicly and courageously declaring that he is a gay African, Binyavanga has demystified and humanized homosexuality and begun a necessary conversation that can no longer be about the "faceless other."

By Stephanie Busari and Idris Mukhtar, CNN. The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

The Gayly – May 22, 2019 @ 7:30 a.m. CDT.