BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — In this country’s Portuguese-derived Creole language, there is no distinction between gender pronouns. Men and women are referred to in the masculine Portuguese “he,” which is considered gender neutral. But those semantics hardly encompass the vast array of identities represented here.
Take, for instance, the members of the Big Mama Fountain, a tightknit group of friends for whom gender and sexuality are fluid concepts.
That these people, who identify primarily as gay men and trans women, express themselves openly is an anomaly in the region; Guinea-Bissau’s closest neighbors — Senegal, Gambia and Guinea — have laws that criminalize homosexuality or same-sex acts. And while it is legal to be gay in Guinea-Bissau, acceptance is a continuing battle.
Leondro is the de facto godmother of the Big Mamas. She is also referred to as Bissau’s Boy George, likely because she often wears thick black eyeliner. At 47, Leondro is the oldest member of the group and the first person many of them can remember coming out publicly. Her visibility, she says, is a means of social activism.
“I have to be open about being gay,” Leondro said. “If I am not, how will I help others?” Read more via New York Times