Christina Fonthes wrote a series of desperate tweets, asking for friends to help her flee her family

A lesbian rights activist from Manchester has been held against her will in the Democratic Republic of Congo – because her family wanted to ‘cure her gayness’.

Christina Fonthes, who is a British national, had her passport confiscated by her mother in the capital of Kinshasa.

The 27-year-old fled to the British embassy for emergency travel documents, but as she went to a friend’s house to hide, she was arrested and returned to her family’s home.

Ms Fonthes, who safely returned to Manchester this weekend, had tweeted the contact details for the embassy to her 750 followers – desperately urging them to call and demand help.


Contact details for uk embassy in Congo pls also call not just tweet thank you @JJ_Bola @WritersofColour pic.twitter.com/iZbZ7bsIuy — ChristinaManch (@CongoMuse) August 28, 2014

.@JJ_Bola Pls tell @UKinDRC & @ukhomeoffice that Im NOT missing. My passport has been stolen BY MUM.and I need to return to the uk asap. — ChristinaManch (@CongoMuse) August 28, 2014

Her girlfriend, the BBC Sport journalist Jessica Creighton, told The Independent: ‘She was in fear of her life. Chris is a British citizen and should be under the protection of the British government. Their so-called protection has been absolutely useless!’



Ms Fonthes was raised in London and founded Rainbow Noir, a group for LGBT people of colour in the north-west of England.

Earlier today, a statement on the organisation’s Facebook page said: ‘We have good news. We can confirm that Christina is safe! We understand the silence has been frustrating and we thank you all so much for your patience.

‘The response to Christina’s abduction has been overwhelming, thank you to everyone who has tweeted, shared and written messages of support.’

Ms Fonthes had gone to the Democratic Republic of Congo to visit her mother and younger sister on August 11, only to be told of the plans to ‘fix’ her sexuality.

Although homosexuality is deemed to be legal in the African nation, it is still perceived to be a cultural taboo. Many gay and lesbian people have been prosecuted for being ‘publicly indecent’.