Residents in Bo are still discussing a February 2025 incident that ended with two young men fleeing town after a violent confrontation at a family home. Neighbours say the episode highlights the risks faced by gay men in a country where same-sex relations between men remain criminalised.
One neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had known both men since their teenage years at Bo Government Secondary School. “I’ve known them since they were teenagers,” he said. “They were always close, studying together and playing football. Nobody suspected anything beyond friendship.”
That bond, neighbours now believe, developed into a relationship that had to be carefully concealed due to social stigma and fear of legal consequences.
In April 2021, one of the men was reportedly discovered in an intimate situation by his mother. The neighbour described her reaction as furious, saying the young man was beaten and subsequently pressured into a heterosexual marriage by his family. “People whispered about it, but no one spoke openly because of public attitudes and the law,” he said.
What followed in February 2025 shows how quickly fear can escalate into violence under the weight of both stigma and law. During a birthday gathering on February 14, Saidu Taal, identified as one of the partners, was allegedly caught by his partner, Edmond’s older brother in an intimate moment. A confrontation erupted, and amid the chaos, one of the men reportedly struck the brother with a chair before both fled the scene.
“It was chaotic,” the neighbour said. “After that, both disappeared from the neighbourhood.”
For the two men, discovery did not only mean family rejection it carried the threat of criminal exposure. In Sierra Leone, same-sex intimacy between men can be prosecuted as “unnatural offences,” with penalties that may extend to life imprisonment. While prosecutions are uncommon, the existence of the law creates a constant sense of danger, where a private encounter can quickly become a police matter.
It is not only the law that is hunting them. In Sierra Leone, being gay is widely viewed by many as not just illegal, but also unreligious and contrary to cultural expectations. Even without arrest, that perception can expose individuals to serious harm. In communities where stigma runs deep, suspicion alone can trigger hostility, public shaming or outright violence. In some cases, individuals accused of same-sex relationships have been mobbed, attacked or driven out of their homes.
For those who manage to escape imprisonment, the danger does not end it often shifts. Avoiding the police can mean facing the wrath of a community that sees both tradition and belief as justification for punishment. In such an environment, fleeing becomes less a choice and more a means of survival.
Back in Bo, the sudden disappearance of the two men has left neighbours uneasy, raising broader concerns about safety and the lived realities of LGBTQ+ individuals in Sierra Leone.
“People are afraid to speak about these things,” the neighbour added. “It shows how being different here can cost you your family, your home, even your freedom.”
