A popular and respected Muslim family in Port Loko, the Gbankays, is in search of their son, Abubakarr, who they say is a homosexual and has been accused of embarrassing the family.
It is not easy being a homosexual or a member of any of the LGBT movement in Africa. However, in Sierra Leone, a country that has long been seen as a progressive African nation, being openly gay can lead to you either getting ostracised by friends and family, attacked and injured or worse yet murdered with no one to speak out or stand up for you.
Those wanting to defend you could become victims of mob justice, which action is rife across the country.
Meanwhile, many young men and women in Sierra Leone who are gay continue to hide their sexual orientation for fear of being cut off by family members or being murdered or injured. While assault to cause serious bodily injury is the most common case in our courts and police stations, those who are gay get no relief from the law as they are not only seen as criminals but an abomination to the society.
The story of Abubakarr Gbankay came to our attention after the young man was seriously assaulted here in Freetown after his father and other members of his nuclear family had called ahead to his relatives in Freetown to have him arrested and taken to them in Port Loko if he was discovered in the municipality.
The young man who was assaulted to the point of death relayed his story to this medium in an undisclosed location in Freetown, where he had escaped to find relief from his father and members of his father’s household after he narrowly escaped the same fate at theirs and the hands of youths in his native Port Loko.
Abubakarr informed us that his life has been under constant threat since members of his family came to know that he is gay. Coming from a devout Muslim family, Bakarr, as he is fondly referred to, said some of his family members and others, especially his father, are after his life.
Members of his old community in Port Loko informed that Abubakarr’s father, an Imam in Port Loko District, disowned him as a result of his sexual orientation and has made attempts to end the life of this his son he often laments that has brought disgrace to their Gbankay family. The father, this medium was informed, continues to insist that his son should die to get rid of the black sheep in their family.
It was reported that Abubakarr narrowly escaped death at the hands of members of his family and some youths in Port Loko after he was spotted with his gay friend in a remote area in Port Loko.
A neighbour said Abubakarr had to run for his life as his father, together with some family members and some youths, pounced on him immediately after he returned home. That attack, said Abubakarr, informed him to run away from home as nowhere in Port Loko was safe for him.
After initially leaving his family’s home to avoid his father and the wrath of his family members, the neighbour said they received reports that Abubakarr was also chased by some family members when he surfaced in Freetown.
The neighbour said Abubakarr Gbankay has not been seen since 5th November, 2021, saying, “It is presently not known whether Abubakarr has been killed or is still alive.”
It must be recalled that LGBT practices are still a taboo in Sierra Leone with those falling under such sexual designation constantly being harassed, chased and assaulted across the country without the police, who are mostly accused of being complicit in such actions against members of the LGBT community, doing nothing to the perpetrators.
‘If Bakarr is still alive he must not return to Port Loko. He should find someplace safe to be as the people of Sierra Leone are not ready to deal with any sexual orientation that is not between a man and a woman,’ said the concerned neighbour.