One year since she came out on the cover of Vanity Fair,Caitlyn Jenner continues to hit milestones stateside. The transgender star now has a driver’s license, a MAC cosmetics collaboration, and a role in the groundbreaking television series Transparent. Over in Africa, things aren’t going so well for Jenner. Her landmark reality series I Am Cait, which follows her journey as a transgender woman, has just been axed from television following a web of complaints. According to the BBC, South African service provider MultiChoice said the show would be dropped from its continent-wide DSTV service “out of respect for customers’ views and Africa’s diverse regulatory environments” — and following threats of censorship from the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
This isn’t the first time that the NBC has had transgender-related material pulled from pan-African networks. Last year MultiChoice caved to pressure from the NBC to axe I Am Jazz, a reality show about trans teen Jazz Jennings, the day before it was scheduled to air. Conservative Nigerians fear that these shows are promoting undesirable ideas, though critics fear that the decision sets a dangerous censorship precedent where one country can control television content across the entire continent.
Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Image via Instagram