Junior is a young Senegalese man who lives with a secret about who he is. He’s kept it from his family and even his childhood friends, because he’s afraid of not only rejection, but persecution, and even imprisonment. The secret is that Junior is gay.

In this episode, Dakar-based journalist Marta Moreiras explores what it means to be gay in Senegal, where homosexual men here are targeted with the slur “Góor-jigéen” - a pejorative term which literally means “men-women” in the Wolof language, and is used to belittle their masculinity.

Hosted by Danielle Olavario; with original reporting and editing by Marta Moreiras in Dakar, Senegal; Naira Davlashyan, Marta Rodríguez Martínez and Lillo Montalto Monella in Lyon, and Lory Martinez in Paris, France; Clizia Sala in London, United Kingdom. Production Design by Studio Ochenta. Theme music by Gabriel Dalmasso. Music curation for this episode is by Natalia Oelsner. Our editor-in-chief is Yasir Khan.

This episode features extracts from Milk (2008), Rocketman (2019) and Moonlight (2016).

In this episode, we used music by Sahad Sarr, a Senegalese artist and songwriter, involved in the development of rural populations. You can check out his work at sahadpatchwork.com.

Like this episode? Share your thoughts on how you have challenged your view on what it means to be a man with Euronews using the hashtag #CryLikeaBoy. And if you are a French speaker, this podcast is also available in French: Dans la tête des hommes.

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