Kofi / Ghana
“I’m 16 years old and I’ve know that I was gay for six years now. I’m still in the closet and I’m afraid to come out not only because of what could happen to me but also because of what could happen to my family as well, even if my father kicks me out of his house, my family will be stigmatized by society even now they are because for a boy my age I don’t have a girlfriend and I’m too feminine. I’ve tried to tell my family about who I am but even when I’m watching a movie with my dad and there are LGBT characters in the movie the word that come out of his mouth are more than just hateful, I have two sisters but I’m only close to one and I fear THAT even she wouldn’t be accepting. I’m in HIGH school now in junior ,I attend an only boys Catholic school were o stickout a lot. I have no friend and not t of the time I’m being bullied and I’m called name, I try to stand up for myself but I end up makin g thingsuch more worse for myself. I can’t report what the students do to me to the teacher because they agree with them, in Ghana if you’re gay then you’re deemed an abomination, sick and preverited and most of the time I’m church when the preacher speaks on the subject it’s always the same THING ‘if you are gay then you’re going to hell’ because of this I can’t even go to church cause EVERYTIME I enter the house god I feel ashamed but I still pray cause in my heart I know that god still loves me no matter what. When my friends make fun of gay people I imagine myself walking up to them and telling them what I really thick but I don’t do that cause I’m afraid of being found out. I know that life is going to be difficult for ME,even as a child I remember asking for the meaning of the word gay and my father threatened to kill if I became gay, so went I lost my mum six years ago, which was the same I realized that I was gay, I didn ‘t even know what to call myself at first but thanks to Chris Colfer from Glee, I knew who and what I was and AM,i learned immediately that I would have to hide who I am in order to stay alive but I believe that I will get better and that one day I will leave Ghana and start over on same far-off land where me being gay will be a Cause for celebration and I will no longer have to hide.”
Another Ghanaian here. I wait for the day when lgbt people will be allowed to be themselves without being judged or scared for their lifes in this country until then we can only hide in the dark or find courage and stand up for ourselves or wait for the people of this country to accept us wholeheartedly and that doesnt seem to be anytime soon
I’m also from gHana,and also chris from glee Inspired me to love myself.i wish you well
Kofi, menua, medaase paa. thank you for sharing your experience.. Even though I am a Ghanaian living in the states, I live in fear everyday that my family will find out about my sexuality. I am not sure if you will ever read this comment, but I want you to know that you are not an abomination and you are loved by God because you are one of his children. Keep fighting, I hope that one day we will not have to keep fighting for our dignity.