When Tinashe turned 15, the bullying at school became unbearable and he dropped out. People in his community now knew that he was gay. Women did not mind much, but men hated it.
His pastor stopped him from singing in the choir at his church, accusing him of being demon-possessed and not clean enough to minister to God’s people. That happened after his grandmother asked the pastor to pray the gay away. Tinashe then stopped going to church altogether.
One night, a group of men recognized him in the street and chased him all the way to his house, throwing stones at him. Tinashe was terrified, thinking: “This is it, they are going to kill me!”. He knew that reporting the incident to the police would only lead to a beating, so he decided to flee to South Africa.
After living with a friend and her boyfriend for a while, he finally told them that he was gay. Once again he was accused of being a sinner and evicted.
“I remember that day, crying the whole night, asking myself where am I going to go? What am I going to eat? Where will I stay?” says Tinashe. “The only thing that was on my mind was for me to commit suicide.”
“I was walking next to the road, hoping to be hit by a car, when I got a call from an old friend living in Cape Town who encouraged me not to do anything stupid."
The friend put Tinashe in touch with a Frontline AIDS partner that supports Trans asylum seekers and refugees, including access to HIV services.
They enrolled him in a Microsoft computer training course, where he earned a certificate. He is now living in a safe environment and has access to the local clinic and to condoms, lube, and HIV self-testing kits.
Improving the socio-economic circumstances of Trans refugees is key to the fight against HIV in South Africa. “If I were to get rich one day, I would love to provide funding for programmes that help empower the Trans community," says Tinashe.
#WorldSuicidePreventionDay
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