Advent 1- Affirming Hope

Being gay, lesbian, bisexual of transgender is illegal in 80 countries in the world. Ten of these countries have the death penalty for homosexuality.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees are displaced persons who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."

In 1991, Canada became the first country in the world to grant refugee status due to persecution based on sexual orientation. In 1993, the parameters of "belonging to a specific social group" were defined to explicitly accept LGBT/GSM refugees. Our country is able to give HOPE to people who are not accepted as “good citizen” in much of the rest of the world.

Earlier this year, we watched as a couple, who had hoped to find refuge in a Western Country, were separated by authorities in Turkey because one of the men needed medical care and the Turkish government didn’t recognize them as a family. Members of the Vancouver Rainbow Refugee Group were able to sponsor them into Canada, in September.

In Ottawa, I found some groups sponsoring LGBTQ refugees.  Capital Rainbow Refuge, Rainbow New Beginnings, and Northern Lights Refuge are all doing work in the Ottawa area to bring refugees to the capital area. You can find information about them on Facebook.