Alex Kofi Donkor is a queer rights activist in Ghana, where it is now illegal to identify as part of the LGBTQIA community. He’s also the director at LGBT+ Rights Ghana.
Donkor has faced many threats to his life. In 2021, a community organisation he founded was raided and closed by police, forcing Donkor to go “offline” for his safety, he told reporters at at Pink News.
In an interview with In-Sight Publishing, he describes his struggle with his sexual identity. “I was trying my best not to roll my hands, or roll my eyes, or give some gesture that would reveal me as effeminate.”
One day, while watching a movie with a platonic male friend, his brother suddenly accused the pair of doing ‘abominable stuff’. He realised his brother was giving him a choice to lie or to embrace his true self.
He chose the latter, saying: “You live your life. Let me live mine.” I called my other brothers on the phone and told them what their brother had done. I began to scream, “Yes, I am gay!” Even people from outside the house had to come that day, they called me, “Kofi? What is going on?” I said, “I am gay. Haven’t you heard?”
Today, Ghana’s anti-queer laws mean his gay identity can lead to jail time. But Donkor continues to risk his life and livelihood not for himself but for future generations of queer Ghanaians. Watch as he describes his activist philosophy to Nonviolence International.