Nigerian ex-youth pastor shares throwback of struggles with being gay

Dan Yomi, who served as a youth pastor while in Nigeria, has shared a glimpse of his past struggles with his sexuality.

From the African Human Rights Media Network

By Mike Daemon

Yomi, who now lives openly as gay with his partner in the U.K after coming out as gay to his parents in 2018 via Whatsapp, shared a throwback Facebook post about his then struggles with his sexuality.

I was a youth pastor in Nigeria & a 20 year old praying for God to deliver me from the spirit of homosexuality Those were dark times in my life & I’m glad to be in a much better place now

So No, you can’t pray the ‘gay’ away & the earlier you accept & love urself, the better! pic.twitter.com/EwCw5xEPxL

— #July24th (@danyomii) July 22, 2020

As he says, Yomi is now in a much better place after accepting himself as gay. In fact, he is now helping other LGBTIQ+ Africans through his platform Living Free UK,  a social enterprise he founded in 2018.

The platform’s overall aim is to validate the lived experiences of LGBTIQ+ Africans, people seeking asylum, and refugees in the U.K.

Yomi is not alone: Internalized homophobia is something many LGBTIQ+ persons battle against, especially in homophobic countries. However, with increased awareness and increasingly available information, many people have come to understand that being gay is absolutely natural.