What is your favorite travel memory: a gay cruise on the Caribbean with thousands dancing the night away? What about the magic of lush Thai jungles after electric Bangkok nights? Maybe grooving to the rhythms of Tango while wandering La Boca in Buenos Aires? Or spotting a giraffe on a safari across the Masai Mara in Kenya? While our world is full of beauty there are still those that seek to dim our lights. Right now, our community is rising to fight a tidal wave of hate across the globe. With your support, we will not just survive, but thrive amidst these trying times.
We are asking all who have traveled to contribute what they can to our dynamic partners around the world. Every day, they provide critical support to the local community. Please consider a donation to one of the organizations highlighted here. We can come together to rise against the tsunami of hate before us. Your donations will go directly to uplifting the people who have welcomed us into their countries. All contributions are tax-deductible and, most importantly, life-saving.
The Kenyan LGBTQ+ community faces significant challenges, particularly those who are refugees and asylum seekers. In Kenya, same-sex relationships are illegal and community members are often not socially accepted. While LGBTQ+ asylum seekers are subject to extreme discrimination and violence. Sixty-four countries around the world still criminalize same-sex relationships, half of which are in Africa. In some cases, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death. As a result, many LGBTQ+ refugees have fled to Kenya fearing violence, threats, and trauma. Once they have arrived in Nairobi, they still face discrimination in housing, employment, and socialization. Overall, LGBTQ+ Kenyans face many difficulties engaging in their social and economic lives.
The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) has been providing direct, specialized care to
LGBTQ+ refugees in Kenya since 2017. Their Aftercare Program was created to give LGBTQ+ refugees a safe place to find peer support, heal from shame, and reconstruct their identity after continuous trauma. CVT employs peer facilitators, who are LGBTQ+ refugees themselves, to lead support groups and build community. Currently, CVT is looking to expand its peer-support model with a mobile care clinic in order to reach LGBTQ+ refugees in more remote areas of Kenya. Your contribution to CVT is an investment to continue this vital work and further grow their operation.
HOYMAS is the only key population-led organization in Kenya dedicated to addressing sexual health issues among marginalized groups, particularly men who have sex with men (MSM), male sex workers, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Stigma and discrimination within the healthcare system create significant barriers to accessing care; leaving many individuals untreated. As Kenya’s primary referral center for sexual health conditions, HOYMAS provides stigma-free care for a wide range of health problems. The increasing demand for services, however, has outpaced our limited resources, threatening our ability to continue offering these essential treatments.
ORAM works with LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers who reside in Nairobi’s metropolitan urban areas, Kalobeyei settlement, and Kakuma Refugee Camp. They empower LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers to achieve self-sufficiency and find resilience in their new homes. Through training, capacity building, mentoring and seed funding; ORAM provides LGBTQ+ asylum seekers in Kenya with the tools to generate income to support themselves and the community.
