Jesus began to cry and apologize. The priest said: Let us pray for this boy, there is evil in him.

Jesus was born in eastern Uganda. The country was in the midst of the worst HIV infections. First his mother died of AIDS, then his father left. At the age of eight, he was left alone, which was not uncommon in his village near Iganga, a hundred kilometers east of Kampala. He was cared for by his grandmother and stepmother. He never felt completely himself. It was not until he was in high school in another city that he met a boy who liked him.

He was accused of persuading him to commit a terrible sin.

They were together for a while, but the relationship ended when he returned to his village. He had a friend in the village with whom he had grown up together. A bosom buddy. After graduating from high school, he told him he was gay. Maybe something more? Maybe he touched him? Jesus smiles and adds that he liked his friend very much. Then Sunday morning came. The village community gathered in their small church as every week. The pastor interrupted the mass and called him to the center. He pointed at the boy to whom Jesus had revealed his secret and said, “Jesus, apologize to our Church and to this boy for encouraging him to be homosexual. A terrible sin!”

Konrad Piskała’s report ‘Stay Away, Darling. A Tale of Love in East Africa’ Cracks Publishing House

“You are like a snake”

Jesus began to cry and apologize. Everyone was looking at him, and all he wanted to do was run away from the church. He was burning with shame like a candle. The faithful said a prayer over him, and the pastor repeated several times, “Let us pray for this boy. There is evil in him.” The next day, the pastor called Jesus’ stepmother. When she returned, she told him that he had to leave the house: “You are like a snake, you cannot stay here.” That same day, he went to Kampala.

He got off at the square where the matatus stopped. The place was like an anthill, and where there are crowds, you can survive. He slept in a ditch. Sometimes he begged or stole something. After a while, he met gays from Entebbe, who became his family. He was arrested three times. He explains how to behave in such situations: – Rule one: you lie. You never admit to the police that you are gay. Rule two: you do not resist. Rule three: you call someone who will help you. Rule four: you have no money. If they sense that you can pay, they will look for an excuse to make you do so. Once, I was arrested with a friend. I was released after three days, and he was taken to the hospital and his anus was examined. This is a form of repression here. He has a wealthy family who paid to have him released. Jesus claims four million shillings, which is a little over four thousand złoty. Jesus was pulled out by Mrs. K.

I recognized him immediately

Eight months before the meeting in Entebbe in 2018, I tried to make the first contact in Uganda. It wasn’t easy. A friend living in the US recommended me to a filmmaker there. He passed me on. The chain is long, and finally I found Mrs. K. We contacted online. However, while I was planning to stay in Uganda, she was supposed to participate in an international conference on human rights on the other side of the world.

In the end, I flew to Uganda with one phone number, Jesus’. That wasn’t enough. Kampala is huge, crowded. The last time I was there was ten years ago, and the city seemed bigger than I remembered. If my contact didn’t pick up the phone, I could come back empty-handed, because LGBTQ+ organizations weren’t responding to my emails. I didn’t know who Jesus was. Right after landing, I wrote to him that Mrs. K. had recommended me. We met at Café Javas, on Kampala Boulevard. Probably the worst place I could have chosen, but unfortunately the only one I knew well. It’s a fairly expensive cafe in the city center.

When I walked in, I recognized him immediately. He was sitting on the edge of a chair at a table right next to the wall. He hadn’t even taken off his backpack. He looked like he wanted to run away immediately. “I have condoms and lubricants in it,” he said. “More than a hundred gays come to me to stock up. I volunteer for an NGO. I collect them for free and give them away. I also talk about HIV. This is my contribution to our community. It’s hard to survive here if you don’t have family support, and we don’t. Other gays are my family. We help each other to survive. If you need a boda-boda, please take his,” he added, giving me his phone number.

Jesus invited me to Entebbe, to his apartment, where he lived with friends in a small commune. They tried not to draw too much attention to themselves, but my guide thought they would stay there for a year at most, maybe a little longer. It was there that he arranged a meeting, and Daniel told me his story.