Over the radio, Kinshasa’s queer youth are speaking out and living their truth

When Scaly Kep’na came out as gay, he experienced what too many still face. “My family didn’t understand immediately and I was rejected,” he says. While he grappled with this, Kep’na resolved to be his authentic self. He recognised the plight of LGBTQIA+ people to be open in his home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo. While homosexuality is legal here, there are few protections. People are discriminated against for their identity and relationships, and even subjected to threats and violence. That’s why Kep’na started speaking out, with courage and determination. In 2012, he founded the organisation Jeunialissime to publicise the stories of the queer community over radio, broadcasting their voices across Kinshasa.

“Through radio, I want to provide the LGBT people a means to live freely,” Kep’na says. With the support of the Children’s Radio Foundation, Kep’na has been able to create a platform of visibility. On radio programmes and podcasts, his team unpack issues from spirituality and equality to gender and sexual wellbeing. “Today many of the youth can listen and see stories that resemble themselves and find people to talk to when they have problems,” Kep’na says. Jeunialissime has become a crucial advocacy group, disrupting mainstream narratives and offering a space for the queer community to express their struggles and aspirations. 

Sharing his own story, Kep’na is hoping to ensure that no other person will have to encounter what he did. “It was something that in the end gave me the strength to work so that other youth do not have to live through that in the future,” he says. With a burgeoning online presence, Jeunialissime is bringing the DRC’s queer community to the fore. “I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve up to now,” Kep’na says. On these airwaves, people can live their truth.

Footage by Makhulu Media for the Children’s Radio Foundation was used in the creation of this film.