While some of us in Canada may feel that we are discriminated against for being part of the queer community, that’s a long way from being persecuted, imprisoned, even killed for just being yourself… and all that evil sanctioned by many states around the world. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) launched the 13th edition of their ‘State Sponsored Homophobia’ report, which outlet that as of March 2019 there are still 70 states that continue to criminalize same-sex consensual activity, and in 44 of the states it is applied regardless of gender. This report was published days before the state of Brunei announced the death penalty by stoning for homosexuals.  

In 2000, the charity, Rainbow Refugee, was established in Vancouver to offer persecuted individuals with different gender identities some hope of finding asylum in Canada. The founder, Chris, had no prior experience to working with Refugees spoke with Queer News about what inspired her to work on supporting refugees. After having working more than eight years with her partner in Chile As Chris explains, her partner “had Irish and USA citizenships. So I began working to find a way for her to become a Permanent Resident of Canada. Eventually I filed a lawsuit in Federal Court alleging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and family. This resulted in her being given her PR but we didn’t get the law changed. So we formed a group with other LGBT folks to work on changing the Immigration law. The law was changed in 2002.”

During this time period Chris and her partner were very visible, and people began to contact them regarding moving to Canada as they were fearful of persecution due to their sexual orientation and or gender expression. As a result, Rainbow Refugee was born, a small grassroots organization that helps LGBTQ individuals in countries where they  face persecution. To date Rainbow Refugee has been able to get more than 150 people to Canada to live in a safe space and express themselves freely, without fear of persecution, and in some cases death.

They encourage private individuals create a sponsor group, or  a “circle of hope”, to help pave the way for someone (or a family) to acquire refugee status here, and to pay their way for their first year living in Canada. They also do a great deal of lobbying and education on behalf of these people. The Canadian private sponsorship agreement is based in part on the work that was done by churches in Canada. In 1979 the United Church signed its first Sponsorship Agreement, partly due to the Vietnamese refugee crisis. The Canadian government through Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The IRCC runs the Group of Five (G5) program, which allows for five or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents to sponsor a refugee living abroad. They must have refugee status from the UNHCR.In 2017 Toronto’s Rainbow Railroad brought in more than 30 people fleeing persecution in the Chechnya purge, and are the 2019 Charity Partner for Toronto Pride.

In 2011, Rainbow Refugee in Vancouver was able to forge a relationship with the Canadian Government to form the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Project which extended their work Canada-wide.  Now queer communities have sponsored refugees in 14 municipalities across Canada. Under this program, the Canadian government also pays for a portion of the costs of for the refugees first year under this program. The government support for queer refugees helped most recently to resettle Syrian refugees. In Syria, there had been multiple reports of gay men being beheaded, or thrown from buildings by Daesh (ISIS). In Canada there were over 14,000 private sponsorships of Syrian refugees, with groups such as Rainbow Refugee creating support and welcoming spaces for queer Syrians. This month Rainbow Refugee began it’s sponsorship process for another refugee seeking shelter, support and safety. You can support them through their website www.rainbowrefugee.com