‘I AM GAY, UNIQUE AND THIS IS MY TRUTH’ MAKENA NJERI COMES OUT

Former BBC News reporter Christine Makena Njeri who now goes by the name Chris Makena Njeri has finally confirmed that she is gay. Speaking online, the media personality said she is happy, free and bold further detailing challenges she faced while growing up as gay.

She, however, noted that somewhere along the journey, she decided to live her truth and be loyal to her authenticity. “Somewhere along the journey I started to discover what it meant to live your truth, I started to discover who I really was and I decided to be loyal and own my authenticity. Doing it freed me from my own misery and I made an effort to constantly be happy,” she said.

Makena also disclosed that for the last 10 years, she has been struggling to live a normal life due to societal norms placed on people. “For the last decade, I struggled to live a normal life. Normal here means conforming to the different society norms that have been placed on us from a very young age. We were taught that suits are for boys and dresses for girls, the small little dolls are for girls and cars are for boys,” she said.

She added that the same societal norms even dictate who people should love, in the sense that a man should only fall in love with a woman and vice versa. “This same very norm, even dictate who we should love, as a man you are only expected to be with a woman and as a woman, the only partner you should bring home is a man,” she said.

Makena then said when she first came to the city at the age of 19, She was aware of the struggles, “I knew for a fact that the battles that I had been going through as a teenager will now be tested but I was not going to back down. As I acted in many stages around the city, I realised that society wanted me to accept the same roles as normal which wasn’t the case for humanity and was definitely not the case for me,” she stated.

The actress famed for her role on Citizen TV’s Tahidi High argued that gender identity depends on one’s internal experience and perception of self, further detailing her journey coming out as gay.

“I believe that gender identity is one’s own internal experience and perception of self. And you know what, it is actually separate from one’s sex. The journey towards expressing my own identity wasn’t easy. I had it rough for many years, where small decisions like what to wear to a wedding as an adult was something that constantly frustrated me because I wanted to wear shirts, coats, pants because that’s what I was comfortable doing but yet society insisted that as a woman I should attend these events in a dress,” said Makena.

After some time, she put her fears behind her and started wearing what was comfortable to her while attending different events. “I chose to put back my fears and chose to be bold in making small decisions like this. I started rocking what I was comfortable rocking to different events because that’s who I am and that is my truth,” she said.

Makena went ahead and said; “I remember for the first time in my life, looking at myself in the mirror and I said to myself, I am gay, I am unique and this is my truth. Every time I say this to my friends, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. I was finally free; I was whole and for the first time in my life I was in sync with my being.”