| Continue to next personal story |
You'll see no faces and no names of gay East Africans on this website. It isn't safe! |
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| Personal Story No. 7 |
| Gay and Christian in KENYA, UGANDA, TANZANIA, RWANDA AND BURUNDI |
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| This website was constructed in July of 2007 Visits made to this web page since August 2007 |
| Meet us under the acacia tree. |
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| "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in also."John 10:16 |
| Other Sheep Websites Other Sheep English Other Sheep Spanish Argentina Other Sheep Foundation Executive Director |
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| Photo at right: Gays telling their stories to one antoher in the Nairobi gated apartment complex where Steve and Jose were staying. |
| Jose Ortiz, Other Sheep Coordinator for Africa |
| Steve Parelli, Other Sheep Executive Director |
Above photes:
Top Picture
Jose is leading one of the
many discussion groups
that met in our apartment.
Bottom Picture
Steve is teaching the
power point presentation
on the Bible and
Homosexuality from his
lap top.
Nairobi, Kenya
July, 2007
Top Picture
Jose is leading one of the
many discussion groups
that met in our apartment.
Bottom Picture
Steve is teaching the
power point presentation
on the Bible and
Homosexuality from his
lap top.
Nairobi, Kenya
July, 2007
| Vowed to celibacy, poverty and obediance, I am a Roman Catholic gay man Kenyan Man, 35 Years Old Submitted August 2, 2007 I will not leave the Catholic church or religious life. I will stick in there and try to change the attitude of these two institutions from within their circles. __________________________________________ |
| Why you'll see no pictures and no names of gay East Africans on this website: |
| "In October 2006, a local newspaper published a list of names of suspected gays and lesbians. The gay rigths group says several people whose names appeared on the list lost jobs and were mistreated by their families." |
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I am vowed to celibacy, poverty and obedience in the Roman
Catholic Church.
My attraction to my Uncle . . . from an early age.
My experiences in boarding school . . .
My education after secondary school . . . To become a religious
missionary priest.
My provincial superior did not allow me to make my perpetual
commitment because I was homosexual.
I'm on a two year leave of absence . . . I should return soon.
Why I am not giving up . . . Why I will continue toward my
perpetual commitment within the Roman Catholic Church.
Catholic Church.
- I am a Kenyan male aged 36 years. I am a religious person in
the Roman Catholic Church, vowed to celibacy, poverty and
obedience. I am gay and very comfortable and grateful to God
for creating me this beautiful.
My attraction to my Uncle . . . from an early age.
- I started being attracted to men from a very early age. There
was this distant uncle of mine who was what can be described a
hunk. He was extremely attractive to me and I always used to
be near him whenever possible and to touch his balding head
whenever I had a chance. My first wet dream came at age 14
and guess what . . . This uncle of mine was the object of my
fantasy.
My experiences in boarding school . . .
- I then proceeded to a boarding secondary school for boys and
soon discovered that I was attracted to boys. There was this
classmate who also incidentally happened to be my dorm mate
and I loved him but could not manage to tell him. We, however,
ended up as lovers towards the end of our secondary
education. However, there was this guy in the 'A' levels who
was madly in love with me. He would invite me to his cube since
the seniors had the privilege of occupying private cubes and he
would sweet talk me and would eventually cry telling me that I
am too young and innocent to understand. However, one day I
got up, hugged him and in the process I had an erection. He
also was erect. We hugged for almost an hour and at the end
of it all both of us were crying and yearning for more. We
however never had sex since he said I was still young and
needed time to seek myself out. However, for me I knew this
was what I wanted. I never had sex with this guy since he
finished and went to the university before he could judge me
mature enough to have sex with me.
My education after secondary school . . . To become a religious
missionary priest.
- After secondary school, I decided that God was calling me to
become a religious missionary priest in the Catholic Church. I,
therefore, needed to keep myself pure and therefore never had
a relationship that could be said to be permanent. I only
experienced 'hit and run' sex which used to be very painful
physically as it was done in a hurry. However, it took me up to
1996 to join the Major Seminary since my parents insisted that I
first have to get some professional training and some work
experience. I studied philosophy, and then went for missionary
experience for two years on an island belonging to Tanzania in
the Indian Ocean. After that, I went to South Africa for my
religious formation.
My provincial superior did not allow me to make my perpetual
commitment because I was homosexual.
- Immediately after my first profession, I got myself drunk once
and "came out" and declared that I was gay. Rumors had
however circulated in my community that I was homosexual for
quite sometime and this is what drove me into doing what I did. I
was taken for therapy. When the time came for me to make my
perpetual commitment to my congregation, by pronouncing that
I will be celibate, poor and obedient for the rest of my life, I could
not be allowed to do so since my provincial superior had a
problem with my homosexuality; but he did not have the guts to
say so. He said that I had to renew for one year. I renewed and
when the time came to apply, I was told to apply for final vows.
Again they refused to admit me and told me to renew. After
renewing I decided to confront the provincial superior to know
what was going on. He told me that they could not allow me to
make my final vows because they were afraid that:
(1) I had nothing to offer to God (because homosexuality for
them is not sexuality)
(2) That I was a potential scandal. (That time the pedophile
cases of the Archdiocese of Boston in the USA were making
news and I think they were afraid that I might end up a molester.)
I'm on a two year leave of absence . . . I should return soon.
- I was told not stay in the congregation with people who were
discriminating me, not because of anything wrong that I had
done, as I was very faithful to the vow of celibacy, but because
of how God created me. This hurt me very much.
- I therefore applied for a leave of absence for two years to give
the Superior a chance for his term to end and to give myself
time to heal. I left in 2005 and was supposed to go back in
August 2007. The superiors have not yet decided on the date
of my return and I would imagine they still find it difficult to live
with a homosexual in their midst.
Why I am not giving up . . . Why I will continue toward my
perpetual commitment within the Roman Catholic Church.
- However, I am not giving up.
- I have told myself the following:
- 1) That God loves me so much and he created me gay. I am
therefore not a mistake and I have the right to live like His child.
- 2) I will not leave the Catholic church or religious life. I will stick
in there and try to change the attitude of these two institutions
from within their circles.
- 3) I have realized that I have a mission to only consolation to the
millions of men and women who are discriminated and driven
out of their churches and faith communities due to the fact that
they are homosexually oriented. I have a duty to tell them that
God loves them as they are and that we all are invited to share
in his kingdom.