The U.S. Senate has confirmed Christopher Lamora as the new ambassador to Cameroon over the holiday season. While it sounds like a fairly mundane act, there is a twist: Lamora is an out, gay man, and homosexuality is still illegal is Cameroon.
Lamora has served as deputy chief of mission in Ghana and is a longtime member of the Senior Foreign Service, along with holding a number of other diplomatic roles.
And his appointment has led to polarizing responses from Cameroonians. Some welcomed Lamora and celebrated his new role.
Cameroonian LGBTQ rights attorney Alice Nkom spoke up in April, when Biden announced Lamora’s nomination in April 2021.
“Incredible, Joe Biden. We love you! Welcome, Ambassador Christopher Lamora! Welcome to Cameroon, land of tolerance, hospitality, and brotherhood!” Nkom claims.
Regardless of Nkom’s sentiment, Cameroon still punishes same-gender activity by up to five years in prison. Nkom knows this all too well, recently helping online, trans celebrity Shakiro and her partner, who were sentenced to five years in May. They were released in July, pending an appeal.
Others were not as affirming of Lamora’s appointment, with Catholic priest Etienne Bakaba urging the Cameroonian government to reject the nomination.
“In 2015, the Pope refused a gay ambassador to the Vatican. Shouldn’t the Cameroonian state refuse the accreditation of the gay ambassador that Joe Biden is sending us? As a reminder, homosexuality is a crime according to Cameroonian law, the divine natural law,” Bakaba says.
Lamora is open about his sexuality, having appeared before a Senate committee in June 2021 thanking his husband, Eric, for supporting him. He also described himself at a 2019 Pride event in Ghana as a “proud member of the worldwide LGBT community.”
“Being LGBT is not always easy,” he claims. “I know that. From those early realizations that we are somehow different from other kids in school, even if we can’t put our finger on why. The growing understanding of exactly what that difference is and at the same time the nervousness and fear of what it means in our daily lives.”
He continued, “Will our families and friends accept us for who we are, and support and love us, no matter what? Will we be safe from those who feel the need to bully and hurt LGBT people? Will we be able to get a good job and have a fulfilling career? And if we do get one, will we be in danger of losing it?”
OFM congratulates Lamora for the appointment and commends him for standing strong in his queer visibility.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
