Media personality Chris Makena Njeri has refuted claims that they had changed their name to Chris Muriithi.
This saw Chris trend on Twitter for the better part of Thursday and Friday morning.
A number of media platforms, on Thursday, published reports intimating that the former BBC journalist had changed their name to Chris Muriithi after the pro-gay activist added the name to their Instagram bio.
This saw Chris trend on Twitter for the better part of Thursday and Friday.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Chris dismissed the allegations labelling them as false and misleading while adding that the reports had subjected them to abuse and cyberbullying.
The Statement Reads;
“Another day above ground, another moment to fight for my self and my community. Another day to remind myself and the world why I do the work I do.
For the last couple of days I have been plastered all over media outlets in Kenya with false accusations about a name change. Keep swiping 👉🏽
What this has done is open up space once again for a queer person to be cyber bullied, targeted, abused and harassed for their own existence.
As a trained journalist I struggle to understand how false information is given a go ahead by editorial ( if this department even exists in such media outlets) and also how there is complete lack of duty of care when it comes to reporting on issues around LGBTQ folk in this country. It proves to me that the work I continue to do is important to ensure media is educated on inclusive reporting for LGBTQ folk, the younger generation doesn’t have to go through this kind of hate and online attacks because of careless journalism. Do better!!
To companies like Meta ,Instagram and Facebook , it’s time to make sure that we start having conversations that will ensure the queer community in Africa is not subjected to such online hate.
PS: People can wake up in the morning and decide to change names. It’s not news! Also it’s not an opportunity for your pathetic media houses to use to spread hate towards the LGBTQ community! I will continue to advocate for the rights of the queer community in Africa without fear or shame! Such media houses should be held accountable for catalyzing hate.
CEO and Founder: @boldnetworkafrica”
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