Male Bisexuality in Ethiopia

The City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is home to a large population of Somali Americans. Historically, there have been a lot of conflict between Somalis and their neighbors in Ethiopia. For much of the history of the Horn of Africa, Somalia and Ethiopia have been rivals. What does this mean for Ethiopian and Somali diaspora living in the United States of America? Such a question weighs heavily on the mind of Menelik Girma, a young Ethiopian man wrestling with issues of identity and sexuality.

"Hate the sin but love the sinner," said Bishop Abraham Tilahun of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of Minneapolis, one of the largest Ethiopian churches in America. The attendees, perhaps three hundred in number, nodded as the Bishop preached about the evils of sinfulness, sexual immorality and homosexuality. Menelik sat in a pew near the front next to his father Antonius Girma and his mother, Mariam Girma. Menelik's older sister Bethlehem Girma sat further down with her husband, a blond-haired white male named Joseph McMillan.

The Girma family had been surprised when their eldest daughter Bethlehem introduced them to Joseph McMillan, the young white guy she met at Augsburg University. Prior to dating Joseph, Bethlehem had been engaged to a young Eritrean man named Yohannes. While there are some conflicts between Eritreans and Ethiopians, at least their cultures are similar. Antonius and his wife Mariam wanted their daughter Mariam to marry a nice young man from the old country. Bethlehem loved Joseph and would not be deterred. Joseph and Bethlehem eloped, and that was that. Once the couple returned from their honeymoon, Bethlehem's parents had no choice but to accept them.

"The United States of America is becoming a land of madness, with women who want to become men, men who want to become women, and men who sleep with men, it's madness," said Bishop Abraham Tilahun. Mariam, the family matriarch pumped her fist in the air and shouted her agreement. Antonius, the family patriarch, squeezed his wife Mariam's hand and nodded in agreement. Menelik flinched upon hearing his mother's words, but kept his mouth shut. In the Ethiopian community, if a person is anything other than heterosexual, they should keep their mouth shut.

After the church service concluded, the Girma family stuck around to meet with fellow congregants. As Menelik mingled with the young men and women of the church, he wondered what was wrong with him. At the age of nineteen, Menelik stood six feet two inches tall, brown-skinned, slightly chubby, and a bit awkward. In the Ethiopian American community, things are done a certain way. The people of Ethiopia are hard-working, decent, and God-fearing. Menelik did not want to deviate from the blueprint of his people. Why must temptation come into the path of a decent man?

For quite some time now, Menelik had been struggling with issues of sexuality which he kept to himself. During his first year at the University of Minnesota, Menelik met a tall, gorgeous young Jamaican woman named Veronique Anglers. Menelik was in love with Veronique, and ended up losing his virginity to her. Menelik remembers feeling elated after making love with Veronique for the first time. He felt great. So great that he almost forgot about...the other stuff.

Menelik remembers being surprised at himself when he checked out certain guys, as well as transgender women, while browsing online. Menelik's porn tastes went from regular male/female and female/female porn to all new and very different stuff. Menelik remembers being both aroused and disturbed when he watched a porn video where two buff black guys fucked a big-booty black woman...and then fucked each other while she watched. Menelik also found himself turned on by videos where transgender women had sex with men. These new interests confused the Hell out of Menelik...

Menelik likes women. Nope, he loves women, romantically and sexually. Menelik remembers feeling proud as he walked through the streets of Minneapolis while holding Veronique's hand. Showplace Icon Cinema, located on West End Boulevard, was one of Menelik and Veronique's favorite hangouts. They made out while watching cool movies such as Spiderman No Way Home and Morbius. Veronique and Menelik had a whirlwind romance during their freshman year at U of M. Of course, that was before everything started to go wrong...

A young Somali American man named Bilal Aden approached Menelik one evening as he was waiting for Veronique at the City Center Mall. Bilal was tall and strongly built, and he looked like a college football player or something. The fellow carried himself with the swagger common to young Somali men in the Twin Cities. Wherever Somali guys go, they act like they own the place. Menelik remembered feeling oddly uncomfortable when Bilal made eye contact with him. Why did this guy make Menelik feel so damned nervous?

"What's good, homes? You need some company?" Bilal said as he approached Menelik, and casually introduced himself. Menelik looked at Bilal, a bit puzzled by the guy's brash attitude, and the fact that he looked so damned familiar. The University of Minnesota football jacket that Bilal wore should have been a dead giveaway. Bilal sat on the bench next to Menelik and continued to stare at him in that odd, disturbing and rather specific fashion.

"Just waiting for my girlfriend, Mister Bilal, and I'm not the chatty type," Menelik said in a clipped tone, and Bilal smirked. For some reason, Menelik's discomfort seemed to amuse Bilal. He continued to talk while Menelik ignored him. Moments later, Veronique stepped out of the ladies room and approached Menelik. Thrilled to see Veronique, Menelik got up and walked up to her. Pulling Veronique into his arms, Menelik kissed her on the lips. Out of the corner of his eye, Menelik could see Bilal watching them with a disgusted look on his face.

"Is everything alright?" Veronique asked, and Menelik smiled and nodded. Hand in hand, they left the mall and headed to Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, their favorite restaurant. Menelik and Veronique had a great time at the restaurant, and then, after a sumptuous meal, they headed home. Menelik still lived with his parents but Veronique was staying at Lucille House, the all-female dorm located within walking distance of the main campus of the University of Minnesota.

"You're so beautiful," Menelik said to Veronique as they sat on her bed. Veronique grinned and kissed Menelik, and just like that, the two of them began making love. Veronique slipped out of her clothes, revealing her tall and curvy, sinfully sexy body. Menelik admired every curvature of Veronique's fine body. She reminded him of Tennis player Sloane Stephens, only with more ass. Veronique grinned as Menelik kissed her lips and caressed her breasts before going downtown.

"Slow down, handsome," Veronique whispered, and Menelik grinned, then buried his face between her thick, muscular thighs. The curvy, dark-skinned young Jamaican woman sighed happily as her lover began eating her pussy. Menelik loves the way Veronique smells and tastes, and showed his appreciation by eating her pussy like a hungry man. Veronique arched her back and exhaled sharply as Menelik fingered her pussy and teased her clit with his tongue. The Ethiopian brother knew his way around a vagina, that's for sure...

"Come here gorgeous," Menelik told Veronique after giving her sweet pussy a licking that left her tingly all over. Veronique smiled and then sat him down on the bed before going to work. Pulling her dreads into a bun, Veronique patted Menelik's crotch before unzipping his pants. Menelik held his breath as Veronique freed his dick and then took him into her mouth. Just like that, Veronique began sucking Menelik's dick like it was nobody's business.

"Just fuck me," Veronique told Menelik, after getting him hard as a rock. Menelik grinned and rolled a condom on his dick as Veronique got on all fours. The tall, curvy and dark-skinned Jamaican beauty twerked that big ass for him, getting his dick even harder. Menelik came up behind Veronique and eased his hard dick into her pussy. With a swift thrust, Menelik buried his dick inside Veronique and began fucking her with deep, passionate strokes.

"Give me that big beautiful ass," Menelik groaned, and he playfully smacked Veronique's big butt as he fucked her. Veronique moaned in pleasure, grinding her big ass against Menelik's groin as he fucked her. The two lovers melted into each other, fucking passionately until exhaustion claimed them. Afterwards, Menelik lay in bed with Veronique next to him. The young Ethiopian man felt at peace for the first time in ages. All was right with his world, for a change.

Menelik returned to his folks house the next day. While his mother Mariam frowned upon his, ahem, sleepovers at Veronique's dorm, his father Antonius understood that Menelik was nineteen years old and a grown-ass man, as they say in America. Menelik resumed his routine, working as a clerk at the Minneapolis Central Library and studying business management at the University of Minnesota. Everything was fine between Menelik and Veronique. Menelik had his inner demons under control, or so he thought.

One day, Menelik ran into Bilal at school. The dude was walking around with his fellow jocks, and a young blonde-haired white woman who seemed to be his girlfriend. Menelik recognized the blonde gal as Beatrice, from one of his classes. The moment Bilal laid eyes on Menelik, something changed in his demeanor, and he seemed spooked. Menelik kept his distance until Bilal's friends and girlfriend walked away, then he approached him. Bilal had walked all the way to the campus library by the time Menelik caught up with him.

"What do you want?" Bilal asked Menelik nervously, and Menelik paused. The last time that Menelik saw Bilal, he'd been so damned cocky and full of himself. He approached Menelik as though he were a prey item. To say the dude came on strong would have been an understatement. Menelik guessed that Bilal was at least bisexual, and kept it to himself, but he could also get really aggressive if he saw a guy he liked. The brother was in the closet or the down low or whatever they called it nowadays.

"I don't understand you, Bilal, at the mall you approached me like a hungry man seeing fast food, and now you're acting shy? What are you?" Menelik demanded, and Bilal paused. In that moment, Menelik realized that he'd been right about him. Somehow, Menelik had guessed what Bilal was, even though Bilal certainly didn't fit the stereotypes about men who weren't straight. The brother was tall and definitely strong looking, with a masculine voice and normal mannerisms. Yup, Bilal seemed normal, but he was into dudes at least some of the time...

"Alright, Menelik, lower your voice, I don't normally say this shit to people, but whatever, I'm bisexual, I thought you were too, that's why I approached you," Bilal said flatly. Menelik looked at Bilal, stunned by his words. In a few simple words, Bilal had just admitted to feeling the same things that Menelik was feeling. Of course, the dude was uncouth and a bit of a roughness, but at least he admitted the truth.

"Cool, I don't have a problem with bisexual guys, but I'm faithful to my girlfriend, just be straight with me and we won't have any problems," Menelik retorted, and Bilal looked at him and laughed. Menelik couldn't believe his damned ears. Bilal had just laughed at him, right to his damned face. Menelik resisted the urge to punch Bilal in his face. Bilal seemed to sense Menelik's anger for he stopped, and simply shook his head.

"Whatever, Menelik, I live my life my way, do your thing, that's your business," Bilal said, and then he walked away. Menelik watched Bilal walk away, and felt two things. Firstly, Menelik found Bilal supremely arrogant and wished he could have punched him in his damned mouth. Second, Bilal probably had the nicest ass that Menelik had seen, well, next to Veronique's ass, of course. Shaking his head, Menelik walked away and headed to his next class. As far as Menelik was concerned, the issue with Bilal was resolved and done with.

When Menelik exited his commerce class, he checked his phone and saw that he had certain messages awaiting him on his social media platforms. All those messages and friend requests came from Bilal Aden, chemistry major and a cornerback on the University of Minnesota varsity football team. Menelik blinked in surprise. What the fuck did Bilal want with him? Menelik accidentally approved the friend request on one platform, and was about to remove it when he saw something that gave him pause.

"She said yes," read the post under a picture of Bilal with a blonde-haired young white woman named Beatrice Connors. Menelik couldn't believe his eyes. Bilal, the closeted bisexual football player had recently proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes. Hell, Beatrice proudly displayed the rock on her finger while Bilal smiled, his arms around her. Oh well, Bilal's life and the women and men he dealt with were none of Menelik's business. Menelik went to his next class, and met with Veronique for lunch before heading home.

Menelik got home, and since his parents were still at work, he relaxed a bit. While browsing on the computer, Menelik went to his favorite porn spot. The kind that featured bisexual porn. In today's video, a sexy, big-booty black woman named Daizy Cooper got her freak on with a light-skinned, muscular black dude named Dillion Diaz and a muscular Latino dude named Draven. The video was hot beyond belief.

"Hot damn," Menelik said, and he stroked his cock while watching the video. On screen, the black dude rode the Latino dude's cock while the black chick sucked him off. This was interracial bisexual porn done right. In the next scene, the black dude fucked the black chick while she sucked off the Latino dude. Menelik stroked his cock, masturbating to the steamy bisexual porn on screen. Shortly after, Menelik came, and sighed in pleasure...

For a moment, Menelik closed his eyes, basking in the euphoric sensation that often accompanied ejaculation, whether preceded by sex or masturbation. Menelik didn't like gay porn or straight porn. Both lacked...something. Bisexual porn had everything Menelik would ever need. Menelik briefly imagined himself doing a steamy threesome with his sexy Jamaican girlfriend Veronique, and another guy. Menelik thought about the fellas in the porn video but none really appealed to his tastes. Menelik cursed himself as an image of Bilal popped into his head.

"Fuck," Menelik said, and before he could stop himself, his dick hardened. In Menelik's fantasy, he was in bed, with Veronique on one side and Bilal on the other. Veronique kissed Bilal, and then they both kissed Menelik. Smiling, Menelik waved his dick at them, and both Veronique and Bilal leaned over to suck him off. Menelik nodded approvingly as Veronique sucked his cock while Bilal sucked his balls. Before Menelik could stop himself, he came a second time. What the fuck was going on?

Menelik blinked away the last vestiges of his fantasy, then hopped in the shower. He didn't want to smell funny when his parents showed up. Menelik went back to his computer, cleaned his browser history, did some homework and sent it to his professors and T.A.s. He always got high honors as a student at the University of Minnesota and didn't want to lose his top ranking. Menelik then listened to music. The hit song Madness by the artist Ruelle blasted throughout the house, emanating from his laptop. Alternative music has always been Menelik's thing. Menelik lay on his bed, trying to relax after what had proven to be a rather stressful day.

Madness seemed appropriate for what Menelik was feeling these days. Chaos had seeped into his neatly ordered life like a flood, and there seemed to be little that he could do to stem the tide. Menelik loves his sinfully sexy girlfriend Veronique, but also has inappropriate thoughts about the handsome and problematic Bilal. Menelik wants to be a good, God-fearing man and a good son to his proud parents Antonius and Mariam Girma. Sexual immorality was not acceptable among Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. The freaky stuff was not part of Ethiopian culture, but Menelik couldn't make his bisexual feelings go away. One day, Menelik would figure it out. It's all part of life's journey...