Rwandan LGBT+ worshipers have found a church that welcomes them and makes them feel at home. Elsewhere in Africa, those who are openly gay or lesbian still face discrimination and abuse.
The new church in Rwanda has opened its doors to the LGBT+ community of the country , providing them with a safe place to worship on their own terms.
The Church, known in Rwanda as the Church of God in Africa, is headquartered in the capital, Kigali. This comes at a time when the LGBT+ community in Rwanda is steadily gaining recognition and respect in a predominantly conservative society.
While many popular prayer houses have sent them away or made them feel unwanted in the past , today more and more gay, lesbian, or transgender Rwandans feel free to visit.
The Church also offers a place of refuge for those who do not have support structures or who are shunned by society and their communities.
Jean D’amour Abijuja, an openly gay member of the new church, was expelled from the Pentecostal Church in Kigali after his senior members discovered his sexual orientation.
Now, Abijuja has found a place of comfort.
“When this church opened, I came here because we worship God without any stigma,” he told DW. “Even someone like me with dreadlocks is welcome. And now, I am singing again.”
Rwanda has neither legalized nor decriminalized same-sex marriages, but society nevertheless retains conservative attitudes towards homosexuality.
The complexity of current legislation leaves members of the LGBT+ community in a state of confusion.
Abijuja says that after feeling alienated from society, he sought solace from God and religion, “We are faced with many challenges, but my advice to everyone is to come before God and pray to him for relief,” He explains, adding that loneliness is especially dangerous because it may lead to depression or suicide.
Homophobia is not only prevalent in religious groups in Rwanda, but also in the workplace.
Last year, the popular Rwandan gospel singer, Albert Nabonibo, sent shock waves around the world when he came out as a gay man. As a result, Nabonibo lost his job and was expelled from his apartment.
Pastor Jean de Dieu Uwiragiye, who is a member of the LGBT+ Church, emphasizes his conviction that God loves all people equally.
“We preach the good news, which does not discriminate against people,” he told DW. “Everyone is free to come here regardless of whether they are part of the LGBT+ community. What matters is preaching the love and salvation of God.”
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has, in the past, ignored questions about homophobia, saying that the country was dealing with more important issues and that all Rwandans were equal before the constitution, given the complexity of the legislation.
Approximately 93% of sub-Saharan Africans are either Christian (63%) or Muslim (30%), rendering the continent one of the most religious regions in the world.
Such views inform and influence many aspects of people’s lives, including their attitudes toward the LGBT+ community.
Ghana, for example, has a mixed record when it comes to treating lesbian , gay , bisexual, and transgender people equally, even though it has a good reputation as a liberal democracy.
“The issue about gays is rather a difficult one, particularly in the African context,” Reverend Wilberforce Asare, a pastor at Victory Bible Church International in Ghana told DW. “If I narrow it down in the Ghanaian context, that is because, as a society, we frown on any form of sexual relations that are not between a man and a woman. That has been the tradition in our country.”
However, Reverend Asare believes that the church should welcome anybody who wishes to worship: “If someone that we consider to be gay, who in our inner thoughts could be someone said to be ‘unclean’, wants to come into the church, then we set up roadblocks against such a person. For me, that would be wrong and is an unacceptable practice.”
But not everyone is changing their long-held attitudes. Shehu Dalhu Abdul Moomin, the Chief of Zongo, Tamale and the Head of Shia Community in the Northern Region of Ghana, believes homosexuality should be treated as a moral sickness.
“We have to see it this way,” he told DW. “Can you imagine a sailor of a ship at the airport trying or thinking of sailing a ship at the airport? It looks abnormal.”
He adds: “We are in a society and for them to live this way. …It affects the society as well.”
In November 2019, the Ugandan police rounded up 125 individuals in a gay-friendly bar in Kampala, many of whom are now facing charges.
Yet the authorities in Uganda are not the only ones that appear to be tracking down the LGBT+ community. Religious communities in Uganda are considered even more aggressive, to the point that people who are openly gay are excluded from places of worship by pastors, priests or imams, according to Ugandan lawyer Nicolas Opiyo.
“So, the LGBT+ community has started their own faith movements to find spiritual nourishment,” Opiyo told DW.
d, I came here because we worship God without any stigma,” he told DW. “Even someone like me with dreadlocks is welcome. And now, I am singing again.”
Rwanda has neither legalized nor decriminalized same-sex marriages, but society nevertheless retains conservative attitudes towards homosexuality.
The complexity of current legislation leaves members of the LGBT+ community in a state of confusion.
Abijuja says that after feeling alienated from society, he sought solace from God and religion, “We are faced with many challenges, but my advice to everyone is to come before God and pray to him for relief,” He explains, adding that loneliness is especially dangerous because it may lead to depression or suicide.
Homophobia is not only prevalent in religious groups in Rwanda, but also in the workplace.
Last year, the popular Rwandan gospel singer, Albert Nabonibo, sent shock waves around the world when he came out as a gay man. As a result, Nabonibo lost his job and was expelled from his apartment.
Pastor Jean de Dieu Uwiragiye, who is a member of the LGBT+ Church, emphasizes his conviction that God loves all people equally.
“We preach the good news, which does not discriminate against people,” he told DW. “Everyone is free to come here regardless of whether they are part of the LGBT+ community. What matters is preaching the love and salvation of God.”
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has, in the past, ignored questions about homophobia, saying that the country was dealing with more important issues and that all Rwandans were equal before the constitution, given the complexity of the legislation.
Approximately 93% of sub-Saharan Africans are either Christian (63%) or Muslim (30%), rendering the continent one of the most religious regions in the world.
Such views inform and influence many aspects of people’s lives, including their attitudes toward the LGBT+ community.
Ghana, for example, has a mixed record when it comes to treating lesbian , gay , bisexual, and transgender people equally, even though it has a good reputation as a liberal democracy.
“The issue about gays is rather a difficult one, particularly in the African context,” Reverend Wilberforce Asare, a pastor at Victory Bible Church International in Ghana told DW. “If I narrow it down in the Ghanaian context, that is because, as a society, we frown on any form of sexual relations that are not between a man and a woman. That has been the tradition in our country.”
However, Reverend Asare believes that the church should welcome anybody who wishes to worship: “If someone that we consider to be gay, who in our inner thoughts could be someone said to be ‘unclean’, wants to come into the church, then we set up roadblocks against such a person. For me, that would be wrong and is an unacceptable practice.”
But not everyone is changing their long-held attitudes. Shehu Dalhu Abdul Moomin, the Chief of Zongo, Tamale and the Head of Shia Community in the Northern Region of Ghana, believes homosexuality should be treated as a moral sickness.
“We have to see it this way,” he told DW. “Can you imagine a sailor of a ship at the airport trying or thinking of sailing a ship at the airport? It looks abnormal.”
He adds: “We are in a society and for them to live this way. …It affects the society as well.”
In November 2019, the Ugandan police rounded up 125 individuals in a gay-friendly bar in Kampala, many of whom are now facing charges.
Yet the authorities in Uganda are not the only ones that appear to be tracking down the LGBT+ community. Religious communities in Uganda are considered even more aggressive, to the point that people who are openly gay are excluded from places of worship by pastors, priests or imams, according to Ugandan lawyer Nicolas Opiyo.
“So, the LGBT+ community has started their own faith movements to find spiritual nourishment,” Opiyo told DW.
