LGBTQ in Kenya? Yes! And they need our help.

Many in our community get upset (and rightly so) when we are miss-gendered, maligned or dead-named, but honestly, that is nothing compared to what many of our LGBTQIA+ friends are facing in countries that are not as progressive as Canada regarding sexual and gender identities, or even on human rights. 

The Crisis in Afghanistan has become main stream news, horrific and beyond the comprehension of most of us in the West, but add to that being LGBTQIA+ and you have the formula for a living nightmare.

The Trans Canada Project was recently messaged by Marc Lee, one of several LGBTQIA+ refugees living in the Kakuma Refugee Camps. Even though they have reached out for aid and provided shelter, they continue to feel persecution based on their orientation. They are discriminated against, abused and attacked because of their sexual and gender orientation. 

Marc writes (grammatically paraphrased):

"I fled from my country of Uganda when people found out I was gay. They wanted to kill me, but I managed to escape.

I found my way to Nairobi and registered at the UNHCR - the UN Refugee Agency - and was brought to the Kakuma Refugee Camp where I was put in the receipt center. A few weeks later, I was given a shelter in the community.

A few days after we arrived, while we were going to fetch some water, we were attacked by Ethiopians who did not want to associate with us because we were gay. They started a fight. 

When we went to the police to report what happened, the police officer asked us if we were Ugandans and when we said yes, they told us to go back to our country because they were tired of queer people in their country.  

We left and went back to our community, but at noon we were called back to the police station and we were put in a cell.

We managed to contact the UNHCR offices to seek protection. But we were tear gassed and brutally beaten. They even used bullets to bring us back to the same place we had been attacked in the first place.

On June 19th, a massive number of homophobic people attacked us during the day and started beating us. We managed to fight back, but we could not withstand the attack. We called the police and the police did not show up.

On April 15th, we were attacked during the night as we were sleeping and our shelters were set on fire. Two of my gay friends were seriously injured. One of them has since died and the other is still in hospital nursing their wounds. 

On August 16th, the same thing happened, as fires were set in the shelters and everything was destroyed including mattresses, blankets, clothes, food and documents.

We are currently sleeping outside with no mattresses and starving. We need assistance."  

Next time you feel persecuted, whether you are queer or not, remember our friends in those countries where hatred and violence are the acceptable answers to differences of opinion. The hate must stop. This is no way to treat a fellow human being.

At the Trans Canada Project, we try to help those in our community by sharing the stories of Trans people across Canada. In this case we were moved to share the story of Marc Lee from Uganda. If you are also moved by their story, and you have the resources, then please take action. You can help by making a donation to the UNHCR, through their website: UNHCR Canada

"Love Wins" we say. But perhaps we could give Love a little help.