I was a Peace Corps Volunteer: Sexuality in Guinea

Americans spend a lot of time thinking about and discussing sexuality. We've experienced decades of riots, court cases, LGBTQ parades, explicit movies. Without realizing it, we're very tuned to investigating if someone is LGBTQ based on superficial traits or single acts.

Guineans don't think like that. They don't discuss sexuality. They can't define all the acronyms or identify what sort of struggles LGBTQ people may have had in life.

Guinean culture is different. Sure, it's a Muslim-heavy country with Christian regions but they practice much differently than I thought going in. Guineans were victims of ethnic-based attacks for a very long time and were taught to not get involved in other people's business to avoid trouble in their own homes. This extends to domestic violence, alcoholism, and sexuality.

My principal and my police commissioner both knew of gay people but even while most people disagreed with their lifestyles, they never harassed them. An engineer in my town described how homosexuality was a grave sin but he would never do any physical harm. Most young people that I spoke with didn't really have much opinions on it because they didn't really think about it.

Guineans show affection very differently than we do. Guineans will hold hands with their guy friends in public, cuddle with guys in bed, and even sleep together. Those are almost always non-sexual experiences but it supported a statement that my boss said: it's very easy to be gay in Guinea because almost everything a gay couple does, guys are already doing it.

If a Guinean is doing things like this with you, don't interpret it as sexual at all. They can just be really friendly. This can be confusing and sometimes upsetting but you'll learn how to adjust.

None of what I'm saying should imply that Guinea is a great country to be gay. Gay people can and still are shunned by their families. People are expected to marry the opposite sex. There is only one gay club in Conakry (which I never found but heard enough about). Gay Guineans who know their identity do have struggles and desire to go to Western countries where they can be with others. It also isn't safe or wise to talk about sexuality with people you don't know, but that's true anywhere, even in America.

That being said, gay, lesbian, bi, queer volunteers have all served in Guinea and have done well. I could definitely talk more about my experiences but if you have any questions, please write me.