Albert Nabonibo

Albert Nabonibo (born ) is a gospel singer and accountant from Gicumbi in the suburbs of Kigali, Rwanda. Thomson Reuters Foundation News describes Nabonibo as well-known and popular singer, and reports he has released eight gospel songs since 2012. In August 2019, he came to international attention when he came out as gay, which is held in tension with Africa’s conservative anti-gay views. Additionally the churches in the mostly-Christian country purport that being LGBTQ is sinful. In coming out he became Rwanda's first openly gay gospel singer. PinkNews named him as the eighth “most impactful and moving coming out story” of 2019, noting “the negative reactions he would inevitably face”. Biography Albert Nabonibo was born 1984 in the [Kacyiru and Grew in Gicumbi], one of five districts in Northern Province, Rwanda. Nabonibo has been active in the African Pentecostalism churches including as a member of the church choir. He has had some success since 2014, including Umenipenda and Sogongera. Up to August 2019 he has had to keep his sexuality a secret and live a double life. As he suspected, Nabonibo has faced backlash from work, family, and harassment at church leading him to withdraw from all three. The continent has some of the world’s toughest laws against homosexuality, and LGBTQ people; gay sex is a crime in most countries, with penalties from prison time to death. Rwandan attitudes to LGBTQ MamboOnline noted “while homosexuality is legal in Rwanda, it remains a taboo in the country,” although in July 2019 it joined a handful of African countries to vote for a “mandate of the UN Independent Expert on the protection against violence and discrimination” for LGBTQ people. Nabonibo came out so he could “live normally and without pretense.” Gay Times stated, “there are no laws in place to protect LGBTQ residents from anti-hate speech or discrimination in the workplace.