LGBT Freedom and Aslyum Network

Description

LGBT-FAN is dedicated to helping people who are seeking safety in the US due to persecution of their sexual orientation or gender identity in their home countries. We are asylum seekers and people who have already gained asylum, LGBTIQ rights activists, faith leaders, LGBT community center staff, policy experts, scholars, and refugee resettlement workers who feel called to this work by our diverse backgrounds.

Thousands of people flee homphobic and transphobic persecution expecting to find safety in the US, yet many face new hardships once they arrive. In the US, asylum seekers are not allowed to use most medical or social service programs. It takes at least six months before they can legally work. Many are forced into homelessness while their claim is processed. They can experience new discriminations because of their race, language barriers, and the fact that they are LGBT.

To combat this, LGBT-FAN:

• offers mutual encouragement and a sense of community to LGBT asylum seekers and advocates
• provides a forum for learning and educating around LGBT asylum
• shares information and resources while introducing people who can help
• educates LGBTIQ communities about the needs of asylum seekers and how they can help
• educates immigration and refugee professionals about LGBTIQ communities
• provides new ways for donors to help LGBT asylum seekers