![gay sex art photos gay sex art photos](https://www.advocate.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_style_360x203_1x/public/2016/11/23/protected-beauty-primaryx750.jpg)
While the images in the series strike a somewhat juxtaposing chord in their recognition of a hostile outside world, House of Kings and Queens ultimately responds to the notion of a beautiful kind of unity in the face of such oppression a call-to-arms for that solidarity to transcend borders. And while that may be a dangerous attitude to have in a place in which LGBT people are so frequently preyed upon, I can’t help but feel a huge amount of admiration for her fearlessness in the face of animosity.”
![gay sex art photos gay sex art photos](http://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170822112937-the-room-at-the-top-of-the-stairs-by-ku-fu-sheng-1983.jpg)
“On my last day at the house, she said to me ‘If they had a knife to my throat, I would still say I am a gay’. She’s one of the boldest and most courageous people I have ever met, and refuses to let fear compromise her identity,” he says. “I became fond of everyone who lived there but particularly close to the House’s owner, who I can’t name for safety reasons. The loneliness experienced on the outside world is countered with a strength and togetherness within the house (“despite all of the prejudice they face from the outside world, they never feel lonely because they always have each other”), in which they’ve built a network and family. “They told me about the daily struggles of being LGBT in Sierra Leone, such as the difficulty in accessing medical care, how they’re turned away from shops in fear of their money bringing bad luck, how some of them have been excluded from their families.”įor residents, the house is a place of safety and affection, “to dress, look and act however they want to” without fear of any kind of repercussion. “I spent a lot of time at the House of Kings and Queens, speaking with the people who live there, and learning not only about the hardships they face as people of sexual minorities, but also the security and strength the house has given them,” he explains.
![gay sex art photos gay sex art photos](https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s--xZeGVPsK--/c_fit,g_north_west,h_920,w_650/co_ffffff,e_outline:41/co_ffffff,e_outline:inner_fill:1/co_bbbbbb,e_outline:3:1000/c_mpad,g_center,h_1260,w_1260/b_rgb:eeeeee/c_limit,f_auto,h_630,q_90,w_630/v1579404704/production/designs/7631185_0.jpg)
“(The community) told me about the daily struggles of being LGBT in Sierra Leone, such as the difficulty in accessing medical care, how they’re turned away from shops in fear of their money bringing bad luck, how some of them have been excluded from their families” – Lee Priceĭuring his time in the country, he was introduced to a young transgender woman living in Freetown upon visiting her, he soon learned that her house was acting as a secret, self-constructed LGBT sanctuary, in which young people that felt endangered or persecuted for their sexuality could live, exist and take much-needed refuge: they call it the “House of King and Queens”. For Price, it was about telling their story. As one of 77 countries in which engaging in homosexual acts is still illegal, those caught risk a maximum sentence of life imprisonment while, in practice, this is rarely enforced, Sierra Leone’s LGBT community still find themselves subjected to threat, harassment, eviction, violence, and ridicule.
![gay sex art photos gay sex art photos](https://d3rf6j5nx5r04a.cloudfront.net/PBqm-VVEszprlgN-vPsqiL0RoT0=/560x680/product/a/a/c37187e702904d43a8ab7a256a62098a_opt.jpg)
“Being a heavily religious country, people are taught that being gay is a sin, and this is the view that most – though not all – people hold.”Īs part of Hull’s UK City of Culture programme, Price spent a total of two and a half weeks in Freetown – Sierra Leone’s capital, and Hull’s sister city – over two separate trips. “The vast majority of people in Sierra Leone look at homosexuality and transsexuality as a perversion of nature, a bit of a freak-show,” explains documentary photographer Lee Price.