Cameroonian gay man enjoys first pride in Madrid

Spain

The journey for this Cameroonian gay man has been long, difficult and perilous. Alain Guefack enjoyed his first Gay pride parade in Madrid, Spain on Saturday. He said he suffered homophobic attacks in his country where his sexuality is illegal.

In Madrid, he wore the rainbow flag with pride as he participated in one of the largest Gay Pride parades in the world. Guefack left Cameroon fearing death, in hopes of getting to Belgium. He recounts being caught up in hellish conditions in Libya where he was forced into slave labour.

In June 2018, he and 120 others boarded an unseaworthy boat. But he was rescued by a humanitarian ship while on the brink of drowning.

“It is very hard to forget the wounds from the past but we must find strength again to continue living today. I try to rebuild myself with a new strategy, with renewed faith and simply trying to enjoy life”, Guefack said.

Guefack was among hundreds of thousands of others who took to the streets in Saturday’s joyful march. He finds this moment surreal.

“Gay Pride is a huge event for me, I had never watched it in the past or could never imagined that there was such a huge event that supported LGBT people and today I’m lucky to be able to watch this event. That brings me many emotions, a lot of happiness and I’m getting to smile at life again, he said.”

Today, Guefack has found work and made friends in Spain, after been rejected by other European countries.

The Gay Pride event celebrated sexual and gender diversity, while calling for better care for elder LGBTQ people.