Forbidden in her home country

Daughter of Cameroon’s president comes out with a kiss

The president's daughter would probably get into trouble for this photo in her home country.

(Bild: instagram.com/kingnastyy)

What a courageous step! Although homosexuality is forbidden in her home country, Cameroon's president's daughter Brenda Biya has come out as a lesbian with a kissing photo on Instagram. The 26-year-old rapper confessed her love for her girlfriend, the Brazilian model Layyons Valença. Both women live in Geneva, Switzerland.

"I'm crazy about you and I want the world to know," reads the caption under the photo that Biya shared on Instagram. In her home country, homosexual acts are punishable by law, as they are in around 30 other African countries. Same-sex sex is punishable by at least six months and up to five years in prison.

Both Cameroonian and international media jumped on the fact that the only daughter of the head of state Paul Biya, who has been in office for over 40 years and is the oldest president in the world at 91, has now come out as a lesbian. Brenda Biya herself did not give any details about her sexual orientation or the nature of her relationship with Valença, but shared headlines about her coming out and voices of support.

Much encouragement for coming out on social networks
The LGBTQI+ community in Cameroon celebrated the president's daughter for the photo. The abbreviation LGBTQI+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and intersex people, other identities and genders. "I am so proud of your courage and your journey. Thank you, Brenda," commented Cameroonian lawyer Alice Nkom, who campaigns for the rights of homosexual people in Cameroon.

Cameroon's long-term president Paul Biya and his wife Chantal

(Bild: AFP )

"I am so happy for Brenda Biya and I think it's great that she felt empowered to share this with the world," Bandy Kiki, a Cameroonian LGBT activist living in the UK, told the German Press Agency. Shakiro, a trans woman who found asylum in Belgium after spending six months in prison in Cameroon and being beaten up by a mob after her release, also praised Biya's courage and strength.

Clergyman comments: "We can only pray for her"
Conservative voices in the predominantly Christian country voiced the expected criticism. Homophobic comments also piled up under Biya's Instagram posts. "Homosexuality is against nature, and everything that is against nature is against God," Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, President of the Cameroonian Bishops' Conference, told dpa. "We can only pray for them," he added.

Biya's photo also sparked a debate about double standards. More than 20 people are currently in prison for homosexual practices in Cameroon, wrote journalist Boris Bertolt. "Either Brenda Biya is arrested or they all go free." Activist Kiki told dpa: "No one should be punished for who they are, regardless of their social class and status."

President did not respond to photo
Media in the coastal state with a population of around 29 million, where press freedom is severely restricted, remained largely silent. Paul Biya also did not respond to the photo of his daughter in the days following the post. The president, who has been in office since 1982, is considered a de facto dictator despite elections that observers classify as unfree and rigged. Regular stays in Switzerland and the luxurious lives of his wife and three children are associated with years of corruption allegations against the Biyas.