00:00In Cape Verde, make-up artist Leonardo is proudly living as an openly gay man in one of Africa's most
00:08LGBTQ-friendly countries.
00:10But despite the island nation's reputation for tolerance, he says accepting his identity wasn't always easy growing up.
00:25Ever since I was a small child, I knew I was gay, and other people would tell me so too,
00:31because I was different.
00:33The hardest part was when I was in primary school, like when I was in fifth or fourth grade.
00:39I would leave my house to go to school, but I would never get there, because of bullying and everything
00:45else, you know?
00:51In another sign of Cape Verde's growing openness, a theatre production in Mindelo brought the daily struggles of the LGBTQ
00:59community to the stage, with Walter among the actors sharing those stories.
01:06Now we are living in almost a paradise here, but it was the result of a lot of hard work.
01:11Many of our friends were attacked, as the play talks about.
01:15They were hurt. They were thrown out of their homes.
01:19No one would give them work.
01:21Little by little, society is opening up, but there's still a long way to go.
01:31Same-sex relationships have been legal in Cape Verde for more than two decades,
01:35and discrimination outlawed, but despite the legal protections, many say true quality and acceptance are still a work in progress.
01:43I do believe that we have a lot of tolerance and awareness, but we need more.
01:49We need more.
01:50There are a lot of people that don't know anything about the society, and there are a lot of ignorance.
01:57So, as I said, knowledge is always the key.
02:02Of course, there will be people that won't accept it anyways, but at least we try.
02:10Across Africa, around 30 countries still criminalize same-sex relationships,
02:15with some imposing life sentences or even the death penalty.
02:19вопрос them, we're at risk-oupage.
02:19Happy birthday, baby.
02:19To be honest with you, KTVU is an MO.
02:19To be honest with you, KTVU is anButtonCo.
02:19Scary boys, for a good site, and stuff.
02:19So even if we follow the料 bill about police,
02:20So we donít ter this relationship, and if we don't need direct it anyways,
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