Untold Stories: Championing Grassroots Movements

Community Call conversation with LGBTQI rights activist George Freeman

At Euphrates we believe storytelling is a cornerstone of peacebuilding. To know someone at the heart level breaks down barriers, heals divisions, and turns the other into a sister or brother.  Euphrates had the privilege of having George Freeman share his story with our community. 

George Reginald Freeman is a dedicated sexual health educator, feminist, researcher, and human rights defender for people marginalized and discriminated against based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.  George is a firm believer in the power of grassroots social movements to create a just, inclusive, and equitable societies.

If you are interested, click here for a link to the 75 call recording.

The following are highlights and excerpts from our conversation with George:

sylvia: I would love to start this conversation with your childhood, opening up with some influencing origin stories, growing up in Sierra Leone, and your beginnings...where and how your path really started.

George: . . . My mom was from Ethiopia and my dad from Sierra Leone. I mostly grew up in Sierra Leone (after time in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and South Africa.) I grew up with a very restricted church. I always felt a little different and a lot of what I felt was corrected by adults - this color is not for men, etc. I experienced bullying at school. When I was nine I came out to my mom and she was very open and accepting, saying she already knew. My mom told me don’t be apologetic about anything, be your authentic self.

When I was ten, my mom died...that was the beginning of my nightmare. I was living on my own...there was no one to take care of me.  I was actually living on the streets for a couple of years. 

The first ten years of my life I had the values of kindness, of compassion, of being respectful to others, of treating others the same way you want to be treated. So growing up those were the values I had for ten years...I had one goal and I had one vision which my mom told me: never give up even though things get difficult, things look challenging, just keep trying. Even if you fail several times, dust yourself off, get up and things like that. (11:50) 

And also growing up visiting my grandma in the village, she taught me four key principles in life: She says In life you need to go through four steps before you make a decision. She actually calls it the traffic light:  1/ Red light is to Stop 2/ Orange light is to Think 3/ Green light is to Decide 4/ And then the last step is to act

Growing up I always used this. I always stood up for my rights in school...and for others. I was always on the frontline...getting to justice...continuing to fight.

When I was a kid we had the civil war in Sierra Leone. We had to move to Liberia as a refugee and then Guinea. I didn’t fit within the context. When I was a child I was starting up kids groups to talk about human rights and diversity and inclusion, even though I didn’t have all the language.

sylvia: From such an early age you've been wanting to push narratives towards inclusion and openness. You shared about the different groups you were forming, being the one advocating for change. Let's keep moving on that thread of your education and activism from Sierra Leone to abroad. We’d love to hear the points of progress in it, the challenges of it, etc. (16:00) 

George: It was really really challenging my life transitioning as a kid to a youth. . . I was banned from the church where I grew up. I was told not to come or be a part of the youth groups. I no longer had a space or community. I thought I was cursed. I had to go through a lot of spiritual cleansing. 

In secondary school, I visited an uncle for holidays. This was an uncle I trusted, I could talk with...tell anything. So I told him about my sexual orientation. He said “oh really...don’t worry, please stay in the room.” He actually went to get the police. I was arrested and severely beaten. Then I was automatically sent to prison. I received a lot of beatings and no food for three days.

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions in Africa about gay people. You hear the horrible stories shared about (treatment of)  gay people and things like that. So when I heard the myths and misconceptions I felt so bad because I didn’t fit within that narrative. . . 

People told me I needed to be angry with my uncle, but I said no…This is an opportunity for me to educate and actually have a dialogue. Most of the time in life when people react to us in a certain way, we tend to take it personal. But it’s not really personal. There are times when people are uneducated, they don’t have the opportunities. . . . I felt sorry for my uncle and the police officers because they just don’t understand.

When I moved out of the prison I actually joined an organization called Voice of Children and Youth. . . So I was doing radio programs and things like that, but I didn’t feel  within the narrative. We were talking about human rights, about HIV, but I felt that LGBTI people were not included, so when I talked to the station manager, and it was a UN funded project, and they told me “oh sorry, we can’t do that.” I went to Amnesty International in Sierra Leone and they said “sorry we cannot give you space here.”  And I kept trying and I went to the human rights commission, and they said “sorry we cannot do that. We work on human rights, but LGBTI rights are not human rights'' . . . and then I said “why don’t I start something on my own?” So I started a youth club. . . we are just coming together as a network of support, bringing resources so if one LGBTI person is sick we can all put our monies together and rally around to try to create that community” (ends 21:03) 

Not too long after, I had a friend diagnosed with HIV. You had to bring your partner to the hospital which discriminated against LGBTQ. My friend didn’t receive adequate treatment and died. So I started to travel around the country in a campaign. I can’t keep quiet and see another Muhammed die. So we need to stand up...I was taking the fight alone by myself. I refused to talk about my sexual orientation because in the law, you cannot admit or you’ll be arrested. So just talked about human rights. I organized and started the project.  In 2010-11 we received the MTV  Staying Alive award. We are not doing this to get an award. We are doing this out of the kindness of our heart. You have to do it wholeheartedly...without anything in return.  

I submitted a shadow report on human rights at the United Nations in Geneva. The government reports said everything was going well...LGBTI have rights. I shared my story and the story of Muhammed. The Minister of Foreign Affairs from Sierra Leone said we’ll give you money and a better life and a position if you retract your statement. When I returned to Sierra Leone I was arrested at the airport.

UN and other organizations pressured the government and I was released. 

An article on my work was published and it outed me as a gay man with my photo. Now someone will recognize me. I file a complaint against the newspaper... I was arrested again and put in prison for 2-3 months. Homosexuality is illegal. The jail sentence is a minimum of 10 years...it was a law from colonization by the British.

The BBC heard my story and wanted to interview me. I said that I am a citizen and have guaranteed fundamental rights. Let’s take it out of the context of my sexuality...am I supposed to be treated this way. I wanted them to talk to both sides. I want a balanced story. The police said there is no protection for LGBTI...that I didn’t have a case against the police. I talked about the discrimination. . . I knew that my life was going to be at risk. . . So they arranged for an emergency evacuation that took me to Ghana to get a visa to come to Spain. I was lucky...this is not the case for every person.

Growing up throughout all my years I actually finished school and I graduated, I was the brain of my school. I went to secondary school and I went to the university and I studied law. And I was called to the bar in Sierra Leone. But because of my sexual orientation my license was actually withdrawn from me so I can’t practice law in Sierra Leone. And I have the degree and even the degree was cancelled as well. . . 

sylvia: At Euphrates we talk so much about personal peace practice and that being such a foundation to our well-being and I’m just, I can’t help but be curious in this moment of through all of this. . . what have been your personal peace practices and what continues to be to this day? 

George: I remember when I was a kid I used to get angry and break glasses and things like that. I actually had a spirit of revenge, you know, when I see something I really want to fight back. If somebody slaps me I want to slap that person back and things like that. So when I was growing up it was really difficult so I think I got that from my mom, to be honest. Because she actually taught me, when something happens try to calm down, try to study the situation, write it down, and then look at a possible solution, and look at ways of how we can resolve that problem.

 And she taught me one thing: she said no matter what people do to make you angry, no matter however somebody tries to hurt you or even if somebody killed her (George’s mother), she always told me you have to get the spirit to forgive (ends 34:00) 

An example - My dad who never took care of me got sick and needed a blood transfusion. I remembered what my mom told me and I went to the hospital to donate my blood. He was really shocked...I have never seen a human act like this. I remember my mom said to first forgive myself and then learn to forgive others. Forgiveness is key...letting go...this is what kept me going.

I worked on developing my mental health. Some of the practices I do now - I try to do yoga and meditation. And I try to listen to something to cheer me up and make me laugh when I’m angry or upset. I’m always monitoring my mood. I use an app called Mood Meter. I also have regular therapy and emotional intelligence classes. I have a coach and a mentor. When you have a space and a person you can rely on, it makes it a little bit easier. I call them my go-to persons.

sylvia: You were saying earlier that growing up you didn’t have role models, LGBTQ role models to look up to and now you are that role model and it is such a gift, you are and the work you're doing, and I would love to just hear more about what you are currently up to and your current work in this activism and peacebuilding. 

George: When I moved to Spain I actually tried to join so many organizations and tried to volunteer and things like that, but I didn’t find there was a voice for Black people. . . I found out that there was no organization, nobody actually wanted to work with Black people. Whenever I went to people for help, the first thing that comes to their mind is money. I felt so sad because help does not mean money...help comes in so many shapes and sizes. 

So I started a group again in Barcelona. . .In Spain they don’t work on refugee issues, they only work on advocacy. I contacted UNHCR and they went the extra mile to help me. Actually our registration was denied, because they said we don’t have any Spanish person on the board. So we got the director of UNHCR, he’s Spanish, so we hired him on the board and actually fought the case in court and we won that case and so the license was granted to us.  So that’s how Pride Equality started here. . . 

There were quite a lot of African people who don’t have access, who don’t speak English or Spanish or any other international languages. . . We tried to create this network of support in terms of helping them for interviews, being voluntary translators. . . The director of UNHCR told me about The Pollination Project. I submitted my projects to The Pollination Project, and they loved it. The project was called “Helping Ourselves Together.” So we created a hubline for LGBTI and African asylum seekers and refugees to actually call that line when they come to Barcelona. . . 

At this point I had a job and so got a 2 bedroom apartment that I open for newcomers who don’t have a place to stay while we try to [find a space for them.]

And so we were helping with asylum, helping document their stories, giving legal support, helping them prepare their documents for interviews, taking them to the interviews, translating all of their documentation into Spanish. . . With that we were able to help 250 people in Spain. The project grew, we went to France, Germany, and we are having so many people now.  So that’s what we are doing now from Pride Equality. . . We actually published a report in 2017 on the situation of asylum seekers and migrants in Barcelona, France, and also Belgium. . . Now we have a working relationship with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In terms of policy in Spain we are advocating for the rights of African asylum seekers and immigrants (ends around 43:00) 

sylvia: We have on this call a global community of everyday peace leaders, and I’m curious about what is your call to action, your call to solidarity, your call to community, for this group and for really anybody who is an everyday peacebuilder. . . What’s that ripple message that you want to share? 

George: My call to action is that each of us should be agents of change in our families, in our communities, so when we see that things are not going the right way we shouldn’t just sit down. We need to stand up, speak out, and act. . . We shouldn’t have a big goal to say “Oh I want to change the whole world,” you cannot change the whole world. Have the mentality to just change one person’s mindset, and that will create the ripple effect. . . My mantra has been - Make sure you do the right things, for the right reasons, for the benefit of all. . . Change always starts with a small intention, being put into action, and then it is realized far beyond the imagination. 

The following are excerpts from the participant Q&A:

Victor: I’m so happy to see you. You are so great. We have to work to end violence….to end conflict between each other. Where do we start? And what were your conditions in Liberia when you were here.

George: Kindness has to start from you. In order to make a difference it has to start with you. Kindness, compassion, and treating everyone with dignity and respect is a human right. We were deprived of food and rations. I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school or integrate. Refugee has a negative connotation. 

Jon: What is your best motivational advice to young people that are thinking of engaging in LGBT+ activism, or simply don't know how to speak out about their sexuality?

George: First, I would not advise anyone to come out if they aren’t in a safe environment. If it’s going to be risky for you to do activism, don’t put yourself or others at risk.  You can organize  amongst yourself and help the community. If you have privilege, power and rights, you should be able to advocate for those who don’t have the rights. If you are a trans person in a hostile environment, leave that country...move to a safe country.

Youth advocates should be able to take up these issues. When I engage with people who disagree with me, we tend to meet in the middle and try to understand and give respect. Another thing I should say to young people is not to be angry when people give you their point of view. They have the right to disagree with your sexual orientation and gender identity, but what they don’t have the right to do is incite violence and hate crimes...I will stand up for the rights of people who disagree with me.

Janessa: You’ve experienced community and being cast out. What are the qualities you look for in community? What is important to you about community?

George: For me, I don’t have a formula for everybody. What I do when I move into a new country, etc., I look for people who are like-minded, people who can be allies. Community building is huge...in Africa you’re not only a child to only your parents, you’re a child to your community. I grew up in a society where community building is in the DNA of each and every person. So I tried to create that community and family whenever I moved to a new place. . . It’s not an easy task. We really have to work towards it. We really have to work to make it inclusive and make people feel safe. One of the main things that keeps them out is that they don’t feel ownership or a sense of belonging. In Africa it was not difficult...unlike where I am now in Spain.

Hollister: How were you finding strength (in prison or other challenges)? . . . When you are in those darker moments where it feels really heavy and difficult, what are things that you lean into for your strength? 

George: I actually gave up when I was in prison because I thought “Oh, nothing is going to come out of this. I will probably go into life imprisonment”. . . But when I heard that the BBC wanted to talk to me that sparkled a little bit of flicker of hope. . . which I held onto.

It’s a process of trying to learn about yourself and trying to unlearn a lot about myself. . . When I am in my dark moments what gives strength is the advice from my mom. I always listen to that voice of my mom and my grandmom. They are the most amazing people in my family. . . I always listen to them. They always tell me “It will be okay. Just make sure you do the best that you can. If it doesn’t work then it wasn't meant to be” . . . Once I see a string that I can hold onto, or something that would be an opportunity that I can actually reclaim, then I would actually take that challenge and actually go along with it” (ends 1:09: 35)