QUIETLY QUEER: Extraordinary stories. Ordinary people

Quietly Queer: Extraordinary stories. Ordinary people.

Quietly Queer is an anthology of personal stories by closeted queer Africans. This storytelling project was conceived and edited by OluTimehin Kukoyi in June 2020, in honour of Pride month.

Quietly Queer

The ground is slippery but I’m finding my footing

I must admit that I was poised to relive trauma. Ruminating on unresolved pain has [...]

13
Jul

Quietly Queer

Wildfire

My entry into secondary school was marked By the rumour that I was a lesbian [...]

10
Jul

Quietly Queer

Bisexual, Christian and closeted

It took almost four years after being with a girl for the first time for [...]

08
Jul

Quietly Queer

The truth is we are evolving

As I lay here listening to a Pride playlist, I wish I could say I [...]

06
Jul

Quietly Queer

I think women are perfect and men are beautiful

I’m not sure of the term I should use for myself. Bisexual seems rigid, pansexual [...]

02
Jul

Quietly Queer

Love is beautiful in all its forms

My first pride, like for a lot of Nigerians, was not in Nigeria. I had [...]

30
Jun

Quietly Queer

Maybe I’m on the Asexuality spectrum

I don’t remember when my interest in girls started, but it was in the little [...]

29
Jun

Quietly Queer

I am a gay man in Nigeria

I am a gay man in Nigeria. It took me a really long time to [...]

26
Jun

Quietly Queer

I’ve paid my dues and my time has come

When I was 3 years old, my best friend was a freckled little girl who [...]

24
Jun

Quietly Queer

I just want to love and be loved

I’m not sure when it started. When my cousins and I played Mummy and Daddy [...]

22
Jun

Quietly Queer

It’s been a long and exciting journey of self-discovery

I was 10 years old when I started secondary school. I remember very little from [...]

20
Jun

Quietly Queer

I only ever feel queer when I am safe

Who gets to be proud? Who gets to celebrate Pride? It’s hard to feel like [...]

18
Jun

Quietly Queer

To be queer is to be brave

When I saw the call for stories, I first ignored, thinking “I don’t have enough [...]

16
Jun

Quietly Queer

I don’t want to lose my mother. Will I sacrifice myself for her?

My friend tells me that she doesn’t know if she could be out if her [...]

14
Jun

Quietly Queer

She is my lover, my best friend and my universe

2011 I started my High School year at an all-girls school. I was completing grade [...]

11
Jun

Quietly Queer

I’m an androgynous, gender non-conforming queer person

My story does not start with a tale of how my childhood was littered with [...]

09
Jun

Quietly Queer

I wasn’t influenced or taught to love women

I don’t remember the first person I was attracted to, the first girl I kissed, [...]

07
Jun

Quietly Queer

I don’t know what the future holds for me

I’m a 27 year old gay man (whew, even typing it out feels very liberating) [...]

03
Jun

Quietly Queer

All I know is I like women and I like men

I’m struggling with my bisexuality because I’m not sure if I’m deserving of the word [...]

01
Jun

Quietly Queer

Quietly Queer: Extraordinary stories. Ordinary people.

in the spirit of uplifting queer possibilities, I'm inviting you to celebrate Pride this year [...]

21
May