A well-known LGBT+ activist from Uganda has declared that she is no longer attracted to women and she will be getting married soon.

Val Kalende came out as a lesbian in 2002 and has spent over ten years fighting for the rights of Uganda’s LGBT+ citizens, where homosexuality is a punishable offence with a sentence of life in prison.

The 36-year-old journalist has contributed to many international publications over the years such as the Huffington Post and has lived in Canada since 2015.

On Sunday night she appeared as part of a live broadcast on a local Christian channel ‘Salt TV’. According to Ugandan news outlet Edge, she announced that she is no longer gay and she will be getting married soon.

During her speech, Kalende detailed the difficulties she encountered as a lesbian.

“I’m born of Christian parents. All of them cut their ties with me for being gay. I became an orphan,” she said, quoted in Edge. “Right now, I have no peace of mind. I sometimes break down and cry wondering why am like this. I’m now back home and have been saved.”

Her recent Facebook posts have been very focused sharing quotes from the bible about “God’s design for marriage” and how “God made the rainbow as a promise not to flood the whole earth. He didn’t make it as a gay rights symbol.”

Kalende’s declaration has left Ugandan’s LGBT+ community shocked and concerned for her wellbeing.

Edwin Sesange, the director of the London-based African Equality Foundation, said in a statement to PinkNews that Kalende’s statement does not change what she has accomplished for the LGBT+ community in the country.

“You are a hero and your work for the movement cannot be denied or scrapped. You will be missed and, above all, you are loved,” he wrote, addressing Kalende.

Others who knew the activist expressed concerns at the news, “The news is shocking to me and many of my colleagues. I am very much worried about her,” Frank Mugisha, a friend of Kalende and the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, told PinkNews. He had not been able to speak to her since her declaration.