'I’ll pray to cast that demon away from you' – Journalist on how his mother reacted to him being gay

Europe-based Ghanaian journalist, Ignatius Annor, who has opened up about his homosexual status, has recounted how his mother reacted to the news of him being gay.

“She looked me in the eye and said to me just because, according to her, at the time that she was listening to a preacher on the radio talking about how demonic it is to be a man and have love for your fellow man or be a woman and have love for your fellow woman and so, she was going to pray to cast out that demon away from me,” he narrated.

The former journalist with the Metropolitan TV in Accra, who now works at EuroNews, came out, for the first time, to discuss his sexuality, explaining that the only reason he denied it for so long was that he was protecting his job as a journalist.

“At the time, I practiced Broadcast Journalism in Ghana for a number of years and being on TV and being ousted brought a lot of pain to my life… because I was ousted as a gay person and obviously, I denied because I was afraid of losing my job and also for the fear of what would happen to me personally…" he said on the JoyNews channel, monitored by GhanaWeb.

He further explained that although it is not to say that his mother – his only surviving parent, has accepted him like that, the last conversation they had on the subject was in 2017 when he came clean to her.

Ignatius added that it was a painful thing to hear his mother say that she would pray to cast out the demon from him but then, he also understood where she was coming from.

“That was not her idea; it was what [had] been repeatedly fed into the minds of people. So, my mom, three years ago was not accepting of it. I remember the following day, she came to say, ‘I have not been able to sleep because of what you told me’ and I could feel her pain because she thought I was going to put my life in danger for what others are facing particularly being a TV person and being suspected of being gay and not openly saying it.

“I remember telling her she should forget I said that to her. I said that so that she could have the peace that she needs but at 32 years old today, I have lived a life of lies; I have lived a double life and no human being deserves to do that and to have accepted that truth and live the freedom that I live today, I am a very content person today,” Ignatius Annor explained.

In 2013, while at Metro TV, Ignatius denied sodomy allegations made against him by a young graduate at the time known as Mingle.

In his reaction, a very furious Ignatius averred that he did not know the young man.

“I don’t understand, who is that?… Honestly, honestly this is one thing I don’t have time for, I don’t know who this person is to be frank with you, I do not live in Banana Inn, I live at Teshie so I guess it’s a mix up somewhere. Yes I’m Ignatius of Metro TV and that’s what is it, I don’t know why somebody would want to capitalize on my fame to whatever it is but sorry I don’t know who this person is,” he told Ohenenana Kwame Amo on Okay FM at the time.