My name is Evans Izuchukwu Chukwumah. I’m originally from Nigeria.
Growing up in my country didn’t give me any opportunities to embrace my sexuality, and I had to suffer in isolation. I was afraid to talk about my situation as I didn’t feel confident, nor was I comfortable enough to share my experience with anyone – until I found out about the work of SILC.
I now felt that I had the platform to come out and live as an openly gay man, but it was hard. Until this point, I had never been open with my sexual orientation.
When I opened up to SILC and its founder Aloysius, they reassured me that it was OK to talk about. Aloysius encouraged me to speak to a solicitor, and accompanied me. Knowing that I wasn’t on my own gave me the courage to seek more help during my coming out journey.
Without this kind of support and understanding, I would have continued to live in isolation.