Ever since I was young, I have done life the hard way. This was the same for "coming out". For my whole life, I've known that I would be different. I have never attended kindergarten in my entire miserable life, but at home, I would always play with the girls and sometimes the guys as well, this continued until I realized I was not attracted to girls I would hang out with the guys and I was the only girlish in the gay group. As I went through life I started feeling attracted to boys in my vicinity. It wasn't until at 13 that I started to notice 'being gay, but that just blew over and I thought it was just puberty starts.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

The life they say has so many branches, and depending on which path you follow, comes with its reward. 

Patrick Agyei shares his life story which led him to be gay and subsequently tested HIV positive before being diagnosed with the Aids virus with Tofiakwa on the Sompa Tv programme dubbed " Na Mennim".

I grew up at Koforidua with my 5 siblings and my mum, mum got married to my dad after being separated from my other four siblings' daddy.

In the early stages of my life, I realized that the only option was to survive since there was neither school nor good shelter for me or my siblings. 

The elders parted ways with my mum leaving me in the care of my mum. I was trained in such a way that I do all the house chores, I became mummy's favourite even though we could highly afford 1 square meal a day, life was indeed difficult, he said.

Having been migrating from one place to another, from the washing of utensils at the Dansoman to being a garbage thrower in my sister's place at Koforidua, then a hustler at Bomaa, in the Eastern Region life indeed was tougher, Patrick told Tofiakwa.

At age 7, I travelled from Accra to Koforidua on my own to start life with my elder sister, it was there I once met a certain man on my way home after throwing away garbage, he showed interest in being friends with me and onwards visited me at home.

He later invited me to his abode somewhere within Koforidua, when I got to his place, he promised to take care of me if I allow him to have his way through my back, I only conceived the thought of giving me a better life and nothing else, I allowed him and he sodomized me, I was 13 years then.

Since it was the first time, I experienced some pains, I reported it to him and he took me to the LGBT hospital at Koforidua where I was administered.

Right from there, our sexual bout grew stronger, he continued sodomizing me for so many years and onwards introduced me to a group of young men who formed the LGBT gang at Koforidua, I was earning money from being the bottom so I moved out of the house when my sister realized my change of attitude.

Sorry, you don’t understand the "bottom" so for us in the lesbianism and gayism act, a bottom is considered the female and a top are considered the male, about this, the top takes care of the basic need of the bottom, considered as couples, the man caters for woman, you can say I was the woman.

Let's continue from where I left off, so I left home to join the gay group, well honestly speaking, I can't tell you the number of times I had to go out with my new family and have fun throughout.

I started playing the prostitute role while sleeping with my old boyfriend, I equally gave chance to other men to have their way, at this point, I had never been a top, meaning I have never had the feel of being a man.

Mum grew frustrated and worried, she subsequently took me away from Takoradi to Accra where she thinks she can offer me a better life, unfortunately, things turn out to be worse. Let me quickly remind you, that I've been in this for almost 6 years without my mum or any family member being aware though they might have heard people speak ill about me they never saw me in that act.

I forgot to tell you that, I was groomed on how to make my men happy, how to walk, talk, dress and other things, and as you can see, I was handsome.

I started another life in Accra, I got to know all the gay and lesbian joints including meeting new friends who were even younger than me.

Quickly let me tell you how I used to meander my way and join my colleagues, I've told you from the beginning that I was doing all the house chores, so I told my mum that I will no longer sleep in the room due to the heat, I was sleeping on the compound so I will wake up when my mum is asleep, sweep the compound and put my dress in the garbage as if am throwing the garbage away, I will then remove my clothes, dress up and join my colleagues at the blind side of my mum, this continues for years until one day when my mum got to know about my absence.

Fast forward, and to shorten a long story, I became a kingpin in the gayism act, I traded from Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi, Koforidua and the rest, one day, I tested positive for HIV, I started developing fears, I wanted to be sure so I tested it for the second time, and subsequently proved that indeed I was HIV positive, later diagnosed of being Aids positive. 

My mum too was diagnosed with Aids together with my stepdad and died shortly after, life from my act has brought me here, as I am seated with you now, I’ve never had real sex before as a Youngman, neither have I had a boy girl relationship, I've lived with Aids for so many years now, he told Tofiakwa while shedding tears.

Patrick has shared his life story on several platforms to educate the youth on the act and how to abstain from such devilish acts he perceived. His education for the youth has landed him a job with an NGO to educate youth against incest, lesbianism and gayism.

He believes in sharing it on the biggest media channel like Sompa Tv will echo his voice to every youth out here to live a worthy life.

According to him, family has rejected him, society sees him as an outcast, but his hopes are built on God. He shared with the teeming viewers and listeners of “Na mennim” and encouraged them to be steadfast.

I know you might be going through a lot, poverty, life challenges and stuff like me, I've never had any education, I've never been in school before, and I've aids, but I believe there's hope, dont kill yourself no matter what you going through.

Source…www.sompaonline.com/Eric Murphy Asare