Issues

For many refugees, the move to a new country marks a difficult departure from familiar cultural norms and customs, often posing challenges in their initial transition abroad. But despite that swift change and period of adjustment, newcomers still carry a trove of knowledge and lived experiences that enrich not only the people they meet, but also the communities, workplaces, organizations, and institutions they become part of. That idea is at the heart of the Qissa Festival, a gathering that celebrates newcomer and refugee writers and rejects the idea that newcomer artists are “emerging subjects,” instead recognizing them as “established artists, thinkers, and cultural producers.” “An artist may have twenty years of professional experience in their home country, but in Toronto they are labelled as ‘emerging,’” say festival co-founders Haroon Khalid and Anam Zakaria. “Through this festival, we want to challenge that notion.” Eight creatives will share stories on March 29th at Small World Music in Toronto, starting at 11 a.m. Among their roster of talent is screenwriter, playwright, and filmmaker Tala Motazedi, who fled Iran two-and-a-half years ago. Now the PEN Writer-in-Residence at George Brown College, Motazedi credits her move to Canada as the start of a long healing journey addressing the challenges of living under a restrictive regime. Motazedi hopes that queer people and immigrants alike will find her movies healing in their own way. “When I came to Canada, a safe place, I started to do my real job of talking and writing. Making movies about my community, queer people, this is my duty. This is my destination,” she says. “From now to the future, I will make, talk, and write about the queer [experience].” (Motazedi’s 2023 film Orca, a tale of an Iranian record-breaking female swimmer, was banned in Iran, forcing her to leave the country.)It's a sentiment that is felt by many other artists looking to share their work with an audience.The Qissa festival will feature multidisciplinary performances, including readings, screenings, exhibitions, and oral histories telling the stories of Toronto-based immigrants and refugees. Rainbow Railroad recently spoke with the Qissa co-founders about the festival’s origins, the significance of spotlighting immigrant and refugee artists, and more. The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. Rainbow Railroad: Can you talk about Qissa and how the festival came to be? Both Qissa and the festival emerged from our personal experiences as racialized immigrant artists in Toronto. With Qissa, we wanted to create a space where immigrants tell their stories in their own words, without having to fit into a particular mould or framework, which is usually informed by the Western Gaze. The festival is then a way through which we bring our vision to life, with newcomer and refugee writers leading the conversation about their own experiences, without being told what stories are important to tell, and which ones are not.Why did you decide to put this event together? What do you hope potential attendees will take away or learn from it? Perhaps the biggest impetus behind this festival was to challenge the notion that newcomer and refugee writers are ‘emerging.’ We realized that even the most well-meaning support programs frame newcomer and refugee artists as ‘emerging.’ This ends up informing the kind of programming that is developed for these artists. So, an artist may have twenty years of professional experience in their home country, but in Toronto, they are labelled as ‘emerging.’ Through this festival, we want to celebrate these incredible artists for the depth of expertise and experience they bring, while encouraging the attendees to reflect on the current programs and support systems within the arts and beyond, including how they may need to be re-examined and re-imagined. We also hope that this is a space for attendees who have a love for the arts to engage with some brilliant performances and thoughtful conversations, and for other newcomers and refugees to feel seen and validated. Your event aims to highlight creatives "not as emerging subjects, but as established artists, thinkers, and cultural producers." Can you talk more about this? What do you hope artists will gain from their participation in this event? So, a lot of support programs that are established for newcomers and refugees are designed to ‘help’ them integrate into the Toronto landscape. Inevitably, a majority of these programs put the burden on recent immigrants to navigate systems — job market, housing, arts sector —  without necessarily challenging the unfair and discriminatory systems. This sometimes positions immigrants as recipients of information, rather than a source of information, which is why many programs don’t necessarily reflect what recent immigrants actually need in terms of how to establish themselves here, but rather what people perceive they need. Through this festival, we want to put recent immigrants at the centre, to lead the conversation around the experiences of newcomers and refugees. We worked with all these writers to co-create this festival, from performances, panels, and programming. We wanted to create a space where participating recent immigrants can truly be themselves without being told what they need to do to ‘integrate.’What is the importance of spotlighting refugees and newcomers? Despite there being so many support systems already existing for refugees and newcomers, as recent immigrants ourselves, and based on our qualitative research with other immigrants, we believe that there is a wide gulf between what immigrants need and what support systems offer. Given how much money is invested in these newcomer and refugee support systems, we believe it is imperative to have these conversations, and challenge some of the dominant narratives around newcomers and refugees. At the same time, engaging with refugee and newcomer literary talent and art, beyond stereotypes and tropes, also creates a platform for both celebration and reflection on the stories people carry, and the stories they want to tell versus the stories we sometimes impose or want to hear.Why was it important to include queer artists and creatives?At the core of what we do is challenging the white gaze through which stories of racialized immigrants are told. And particularly in the contemporary political context, may that be wars being fought elsewhere, or political movements in Toronto, rainbow-washing is a dominant phenomenon, which is deeply entwined with the white gaze — perceptions of global south, and saviour narrative of the global north. Any story about the white gaze is incomplete without the story of queer artists and creatives.If you’d like to attend the Qissa festival, please RSVP here.

It's been decades since Ghana gained independence from the British Empire, setting off a chain reaction on a continent where dozens of countries struggled under the weight of European rule. But while British colonialism may seem like a hallmark of the past, its legal and cultural legacies remain deeply embedded in the present. Colonial-era anti-LGBTQI+ laws continue to shape legal systems and public attitudes, disproportionately impacting Black LGBTQI+ people across Africa and the global diaspora. In recent years, attacks against queer, trans, and gender nonconforming individuals have intensified alongside a broader global political shift to the far right, emboldening politicians to embrace and champion the backsliding of LGBTQI+ rights. Today, more than 60 UN member states criminalize consensual same-sex intimacy worldwide. Around half of such nations reside in Africa, with similar laws enforced across parts of the Middle East and Caribbean. Read More: The Anti-Homosexuality Act Now: The Path Forward for LGBTQI+ Rights in UgandaThe erosion of LGBTQI+ rights is rooted in a growing number of punitive laws: Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, one of the most extreme pieces of anti-LGBTQI+ legislation in the world, imposes life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations. Nigeria’s Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, passed a decade earlier, goes beyond just banning marriage equality.  The law also prohibits same-sex public displays of affection and criminalizes LGBTQI+ organizations and gatherings. And across the continent in Kenya, same-sex intimacy between men is subject to up to 14 years in prison.In each of these instances, the criminalization of LGBTQI+ people can be traced back to anti-LGBTQI+ laws imposed by Britain. Some experts argue, however, that some countries have since expanded and intensified those provisions.  “What we are witnessing today goes far beyond colonial legacy,” says Dennis Wamala, a Program Officer at Rainbow Railroad, who fled Uganda and relocated to Canada with the organization’s support. Read More: ‘Silence Was Not Survival’: How Dennis Turned His Story into Action“In countries such as Uganda, these laws have been deliberately expanded and weaponized under the influence of religious extremism and political opportunism. The result is legislation that is not only more punitive than the original colonial statutes, but openly inhumane,” he adds. “This is not about protecting culture or morality, it is about using LGBTQI+ people as political scapegoats to mobilize fear, distract from governance failures, and consolidate power.”A history of colonial anti-LGBTQI+ laws   Homosexuality was first codified as a civil crime in Britain following King Henry VIII’s passage of the Buggery Act of 1533, which made sexual relations between two men punishable by death. The law, which described same-sex sexual relations as “detestable and abominable,” remained in place in some way or another in England and Wales until 1967. In the centuries following the passage of the act, negative attitudes towards homosexuality remained dominant in society, with little movement towards equality. By the late 1800s, as several European nations, and particularly Britain, moved to take control over the African continent, such beliefs of queerness were imposed on African colonies under the British Criminal Code Act of 1916. The law criminalized "carnal knowledge against the order of nature," similar to the 1862 Indian Penal Code—used in the then-British colony of India—which also criminalized same-sex intimacy. The impact of British anti-LGBTQI+ laws The new laws imposed on African colonies marked a significant shift from a range of societal norms, where homosexuality was not consistently treated as a crime and, in some societies, was accepted within social life. While conservative voices today may promote anti-gay laws to protect traditional “African family values,” with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni calling homosexuality a “deviation” and asking lawmakers to resist “imperialist” pressure, research indicates that there were no policies outlawing homosexuality in Africa prior to colonization. Nevertheless, the influence of modern-day religious and Evangelical movements, and their homophobic nature, has become common all across Africa, as it's also been embraced as a popular political tactic to earn support from voters.  The consequences are tangible. Uganda currently ranks third in the list of countries where Rainbow Railroad receives the most requests for help. Since the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in March 2023, Rainbow Railroad has received more than 3,400 requests for help.  That's not to say that LGBTQI+ equality has not made strides among some former colonies. South Africa became the first country on the continent to legalize same-sex marriage in 2006, ahead of England and New Zealand. The state functions as a pioneer in the region despite current challenges impacting queer, trans, and gender nonconforming refugees who flee to the country from other nearby regions. In June 2024, the Namibian High Court decriminalized same-sex relations—reversing a colonial-era law inherited from South Africa. A year earlier, the court recognized some civil unions between same-sex couples conducted abroad. That advancement came with swift backlash: In 2025, Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba passed a bill to block recognition of same-sex marriage, likely in response to negative cultural attitudes towards queer, trans, and gender nonconforming individuals. Elsewhere, similar tensions continue to unfold. The Kenyan Court of Appeals last year adjourned constitutional challenges to their existing penal code, which criminalizes same-sex actions. Earlier, the state considered Family Protection Bill 2023, which would expand current penalties for same-sex intimacy and further prohibit homosexuality, same-sex marriage, gender-affirming care procedures, and more. More than 2,200 requests for help from Kenya have been recorded from 2020 to 2025, with a near 200% increase from 2022 to 2023.Looking aheadThe legacy of colonialism continues to shape the legal and social realities facing Black LGBTQI+ people today. But it does not define the future. Across Africa and the global diaspora, activists, community leaders, and advocates are challenging inherited laws, reclaiming histories, and building movements grounded in dignity, care, and self-determination.Progress is often uneven, and frequently met with resistance, but it is undeniable. Court victories, community organizing, and international solidarity are opening new pathways towards safety.The work ahead remains urgent. Dismantling colonial-era legal systems, confronting political opportunism, and addressing deep-rooted stigma will require sustained commitment. The story is still being written, not only in courtrooms and legislatures, but in the everyday courage of people refusing to disappear. And in that collective resistance lies a powerful truth: change is not only possible, it is already underway. 

Rainbow Railroad condemns the decision of Russian authorities to continue their crusade to criminalize queer people. Earlier this week, the government threatened to designate the Russian LGBT Network, one of the country’s largest LGBTQI+ civil society organizations, as an “extremist organization.” If approved, any participation in the organization’s activities, including volunteering, providing services, or displaying its symbols, could lead to administrative or criminal prosecution. This action follows the continued escalation of anti-LGBTQI+ repression, including the 2023 ruling that labelled the “international LGBT movement” as extremist and enacting legislation that restricted gender-affirming care and legal gender recognition.Russian authorities have intensified efforts to limit access to LGBTQI+ information online, including blocking Rainbow Railroad’s website, censoring independent media, and expanding laws that criminalize access to materials labelled “extremist.” These measures sever a critical lifeline that many LGBTQI+ people rely on to obtain information on existing legal protections, guidance, and pathways to safety, deepening isolation and increasing vulnerability for LGBTQI+ Russians already at risk.Rainbow Railroad has repeatedly denounced the broader campaign targeting LGBTQI+ civil society across Russia and the wider region. “This is life-threatening for many LGBTQI+ Russians. Anti-LGBTQI+ judicial actions are directly driving protection needs and forced displacement,” says Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, CEO, Rainbow Railroad.In 2025, Rainbow Railroad received over 600 Requests for Help from LGBTQI+ people living in Russia or Russian citizens, representing a more than 50% increase compared to the previous year. Notably, 65% of requests were submitted by LGBTQI+ Russians still residing within the country. LGBTQI+ Russians requesting help specifically cited the dangers of being openly queer in Russia, and the legal risks created by the designation of queer movements as “extremist.” “These figures reflect escalating risk, shrinking civic space, censorship of information channels, and the growing barriers LGBTQI+ people face in accessing protection and support,” says Langsberg-Lewis. “All these risks have been reported by our Russian partner organizations, who are all being targeted by this harmful campaign.”Rainbow Railroad has supported LGBTQI+ individuals fleeing persecution from Russia since the Chechnya anti-gay purges and continues to expand emergency relocation pathways and crisis response systems for those at risk. In response to the current escalation, Rainbow Railroad is mobilizing emergency assistance to support the Russian LGBT Network to ensure that LGBTQI+ Russians affected by these developments continue to have access to safety, reliable information, legal protections, and secure pathways to refuge. As Russian authorities attempt to ban human rights organizations, restrict the public display of LGBTQI+ symbols and public expression, they cannot erase LGBTQI+ communities or the global queer movement that sustains them.We call on the Canadian government, the European Union, community members and international partners to act with urgency and principle by sustaining funding for human rights defenders and frontline LGBTQI+ civil society organizations worldwide, and consider the following actions:Expand emergency visas and dedicated human rights defender protection streams for LGBTQI+ Russians forced into exile.Publicly condemn the weaponization of “anti-extremism” laws used to criminalize identity, suppress civic space, and legitimize the systemic assault on the rights of LGBTQI+ people.Increase flexible and rapid-response funding for frontline LGBTQI+ organizations providing humanitarian protection, relocation assistance, and crisis services to LGBTQI+ Russians in forced displacement.Safeguard access to independent LGBTQI + information channels and secure communication platforms that connect LGBTQI+ people who face persecution to life-saving protection pathways and LGBTQI+ support networks.We call on our community to donate in support of Rainbow Railroad’s work to mobilize emergency assistance for those most at-risk. The attempt to label Russian LGBTQI+ organizations as a national threat is part of a broader effort to erase communities from public life. Yet their continued existence is a powerful act of resilience. Rainbow Railroad stands alongside those working in difficult and courageous spaces to defend the rights, safety, and dignity of the most vulnerable, and we call on the international community to act with urgency to protect them.

How Rainbow Railroad’s Crisis Response and Grassroots Mobilization Funds are empowering frontline organizations with funding assistance during a period of increased need.

It has been almost three years since the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was signed into law, representing one of the most extreme pieces of anti-LBGTQI+ legislation in the world. In that time, the global LGBTQI+ movement has witnessed a notable decline in support for LGBTQI+ rights and movement building across various democratic, legal and humanitarian protection systems. Rainbow Railroad has been closely monitoring the situation in Uganda; since the passing of the AHA, we have received over 3,450 requests for help from Ugandan citizens. In October, Rainbow Railroad hosted a meeting with representatives from Dignity Network Canada, a delegation of advocates opposed to the AHA, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, and trusted partner Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) to discuss the impacts of the bill on human rights defenders and LGBTQI+ persons in Uganda. The Anti-Homosexuality Act: The Continued Impact of Legislated HatredThe AHA seeks to prohibit any form of same-sex intimacy and its promotion or recognition. Prior to the passing of the AHA, same-sex intimacy was already criminalized in Uganda. The Penal Code 1950 criminalizes acts of carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ and ‘gross indecency’, colonial-era provisions which were retained after independence, and are punishable by life in prison. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women ruled last year that criminalization of consensual, same-sex intimacy between women (and by extension, all people) is a human rights violation. Since the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, these requests have grown exponentially with 291% increase compared to 2022. In 2023 alone, we witnessed a 2,057% surge in requests for Help from Uganda compared to the same period in 2022. Our advocacy has included the elevation of calls to action from Ugandan partners such as SMUG, with Canadian civil society and government representatives. Perspectives from the Ground: Coordinating with Local PartnersDuring the meetings hosted in October, our staff were briefed on the barriers faced by human rights defenders and the broader LGBTQI+ community since the passing of the bill.  Partners described how violence towards the LGBTQI+ community remains disproportionately widespread across all systems. There has been a significant rise in the number of internally displaced LGBTQI+ persons due to forced eviction of LGBTQI+ people, which is mandated by the AHA. SMUG also described how global donors operating in Uganda have begun removing any informational materials related to LGBTQI+ care from their programming, a clear indication of how organizations offering LGBTQI+ services are forced to self-censor any LGBTQI+ content for fear of legal or political reprisal. Coupled with the recent cuts to USAID funding for humanitarian aid, many healthcare centers and clinics have been forced to shut down. This erasure means that  many LGBTQI+ Ugandans are unable to access essential care with dignity and respectA representative from Westminster Foundation described how people perceived to be LGBTQI+ are subject to arbitrary arrests; they shared an example of three women who were detained for multiple  days and subjected to forensic testing merely for their suspected affiliation with the LGBTQI+ community. One human rights defender described the bill’s far-reaching effects in portraying LGBTQI+ identity as a threat to the state. They explained how Ugandan LGBTQI+ people have been legally classified as an “aggravated circumstance” under multiple laws, including the HIV Control and Prevention Act and the amended Penal Code. The Future of the LGBTQI+ Movement Across AfricaThis pattern is not unique to Uganda. This year alone, we have witnessed similar developments across the African continent, notably in West Africa, where evangelical coalitions and political regimes are promoting anti-LBGTQI+ sentiment under the guise of moral protection. One of our experts provided a real-life example of how global actors continue to fuel anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric by investing $40 million in establishing “African Centre for the Rehabilitation of LGBTQI+ Persons” effectively creating a conversion therapy institution.In early 2026, Ugandans will head to the polls for a general election. Activists and human rights defenders anticipate heightened arrests and expect that violence and political scapegoating of LGBTQI+ persons will continue to rise. Local LGBTQI+ grassroots organizations such as SMUG remain vital lifelines in providing support to displaced LGBTQI+ peopleA Global Call to ActionStrengthening international partnerships and elevating the calls of local human rights defenders is critical in the ongoing resistance to the anti-LBGTQI+ movement. As far-right and evangelical groups intensify radicalization efforts through political and religious systems, Rainbow Railroad continues to provide ongoing support to Uganda. We have fostered over 15 partnerships with grassroots LGBTQI+ organizations, and provided direct support to over 2,517 people, in the form of advocacy, livelihood assistance and shelter. We call on civil society and governments to continue to support the efforts of the LGBTQI+ movement in Uganda.Canadian Civil Society Organizations can support by: Pressing demand for broader sensitization and capacity building on LGBTQI+ issues, particularly through Know Your Rights workshops. There is an urgent need for sustained engagement with members of Parliament as well as enforcement agencies, acknowledging that many remain unaware of the lived realities and needs of queer communities. Both SMUG and Westminster Foundation have initiated targeted advocacy with MPs, including those involved in youth affairs.Ensuring that key advocates are “in the room,”  informed of agendas and positioned to speak out is critical. For example, participation in forums such as the Family Values Conference has proven effective in influencing public opinion and challenging anti-rights narratives. Our guest shared how the lack of civic spaces to convene has an impact on the momentum of the LGBTQI+ movement. Since the passing of the AHA, avenues for human rights defenders and LGBTQI+  Ugandans people to convene have become nearly non-existent. Organizations cannot afford to ensure consistent representation. For example, only one delegate could attend the ILGA Conference instead of a broader delegation of 20 MPs and advocates. This restricts engagement in both global and local policy dialogues and undermines the visibility of queer rights advocacy in international fora.Producing shadow reports and coalition-led studies helps to amplify local realities and equip advocates with data to challenge existing discriminatory laws. invaluable in building momentum within the  Ugandan LGBTQI movement, offering up practical tools for those on the ground.Engaging the private sector, especially large corporations in the global north. These entities can exert significant influence by publicly opposing regressive laws and adopting internal policies aligned with human rights principles.Encouraging the Government of Canada to mandate inclusive language and policy commitments in its international programming. Canada continues to act as both a convener and amplifier in global advocacy spaces and provides humanitarian assistance to LGBTQI+ movements.

Rainbow Railroad is currently participating in the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) 2025 Progress Review in Geneva. The GRF marks a critical moment to maintain momentum and assess progress on pledges made in 2023 by states, non-profits, international non-governmental organizations, and private sector actors to protect refugees. Since the last GRF in 2023, the global humanitarian landscape has shifted dramatically. What began as a crisis shaped by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into an overlapping polycrisis: the rise of anti-gender movements and authoritarian governance, shrinking humanitarian aid, and increasingly impenetrable borders. Together, these trends signal that refugee protection systems are being retooled not to help people survive forced displacement, but to prevent movement altogether. In this context, forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ people remain among those most at risk and most often left behind.Globally, wealthier countries host fewer refugees and continue to externalize asylum responsibilities, placing growing pressure on Global South countries to contain displacement, often without adequate resources or safeguards. These shifts have real consequences. In Canada, for example, recent migration reforms such as Bill C-12 - introduced as “integrity measures”- risk narrowing access to refugee protection and further disadvantaging LGBTQI+ refugees, whose claims already face heightened scrutiny and systemic barriers.Against this backdrop, Rainbow Railroad made seven pledges at the GRF in 2023, including commitments to carve out safer LGBTQI+ resettlement pathways, provide relocation support, and foster movement-building initiatives such as the Queer Forced Displacement Initiative. Central to this work is a commitment to LGBTQI+ refugee leadership, ensuring that forcibly displaced and stateless LGBTQI+ people have a meaningful voice in decisions that shape their lives, as well as ensuring that the needs and experiences of LGBTQI+ refugees are no longer invisible within global refugee systems.One of the clearest examples of progress we have made toward our pledges is the Government-Assisted Refugee partnership with the Canadian government—a landmark LGBTQI+-specific pathway allowing Rainbow Railroad to directly refer up to 250 at-risk LGBTQI+ refugees each year without requiring UNHCR recognition. Since the start of the year, 87 people have safely arrived in 16 cities across Canada. This demonstrates what is possible when political courage meets queer expertise. Additionally, through our Queer Forced Displacement Initiative and other movement-building programs, we have invested over $1M CAD in 80 organizations to address the root causes of LGBTQI+ forced displacement, protection and community integration support for queer and trans refugees.Despite this progress, at-risk LGBTQI+ people continue to be subjected to multiple forms of persecution—from discrimination to death, and shrinking access to resettlement pathways. Nearly half of Rainbow Railroad’s clients report surviving violence, including LGBTQI+ people living in refugee camps. And, the collapse of refugee resettlement pathways in the United States increased risk for LGBTQI+ people in life-threatening situations.As we look ahead to the Global Refugee Forum in 2027, Rainbow Railroad remains committed to investing in LGBTQI+ organizations globally, sustaining our data-driven and movement-building Queer Forced Displacement Initiative, expanding access to resettlement pathways for LGBTQI+ refugees, and providing cash assistance to at-risk LGBTQI+ people in their countries of residence.Rainbow Railroad continues to ensure that LGBTQI+ refugees are visible, protected, and supported within global refugee responses. As we take stock in Geneva, one principle must remain clear: “Ubuntu, I am because you are.” In that spirit, LGBTQI+ refugees cannot and will not be left behind. We call on our community to sustain these efforts and help us achieve our GRF pledge goals over the next two years in preparation for the next GRF in 2027. You can support by contributing to our 60in60 campaign, and echoing our call for governments to expand resettlement pathways for LGBTQI+ refugees.

We are currently living through a period of profound global regression. A coordinated anti-gender backlash is actively dismantling international human rights frameworks and fuelling forced displacement at unprecedented levels.In times of crisis, the needs of LGBTQI+ refugees are often invisibilized and overlooked within the design of both humanitarian and refugee protection systems.  Rainbow Railroad works at the intersection of multiple and overlapping crises: climate collapse, political repression, armed conflict, and a dangerous rise in anti-LGBTQI+ hate. Each year, we receive tens of thousands of requests for assistance from LGBTQI+ individuals seeking urgent international protection.These requests are more than just cries for help. They are data. They reveal a troubling pattern,  the convergence of democratic backsliding with rising anti-LGBTQI+ sentiments in places like Afghanistan, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Yemen, and Pakistan.This erosion is particularly dangerous for LGBTQI+ refugees living in transit countries, many of whom face criminalization, violence, and state-sponsored persecution. For many LGBTQI+ people impacted by forced displacement, third-country resettlement is not merely a legal mechanism; it is a vital means of protection. It is a lifeline. Yet last year, less than 5% of individuals seeking Rainbow Railroad’s assistance had UNHCR-registered refugee status.Standing in Brave SpacesAt Rainbow Railroad, we believe that building durable solutions for LGBTQI+ forced displacement begins with centering the expertise and stories of LGBTQI+ refugees at every stage of our advocacy.In June, Rainbow Railroad joined the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (IE SOGI), Graeme Reid, for the release of his groundbreaking report on LGBTQI+ forced displacement at the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva.As a global advocate, Rainbow Railroad seeks to carve out spaces where LGBTQI+ refugees can directly advocate for and shape the design of inclusive humanitarian protection policies, expanding visibility and safety within systems that are, by design, exclusionaryIn co-sponsorship with ILGA World and with the support of the Group of Friends of the IE SOGI, we hosted a side event that brought together over 100 state representatives, activists, academics, individuals with lived experience, NGOs, and UN agencies for a dedicated dialogue on LGBTQI+ forced displacement. At the event we observed a noticeable gap left by the absence of the United States, which had previously held a strong leadership role in advancing protection for LGBTQI+ individuals and promoting diverse global interests. Rainbow Railroad was also able to leverage its consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to provide access to 17 individuals, enabling them to advocate for LGBTQI+ rights at the highest levels of the UN. ECOSOC status enables Rainbow Railroad and its partners to participate in nearly all major UN events, enabling opportunities for legitimate contributions to relevant subject matter.Leading from Lived ExperienceAmong the participants was Basel Hamrah, founding member and leader of Rainbow Refuge, a newcomer centre based in Edmonton, Alberta. Basel is an active member of the Canadian Council for Refugees and advocates for the transformative power of resettlement pathways. Basel’s story is emblematic of many people who have been impacted by forced displacement and who now serve in leadership roles within their communities. The creation of such side events provides a platform where LGBTQI+ advocates and allies can add value and depth to ongoing discussions on refugee protections while calling for concrete, sustained action to support forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ persons across all humanitarian protection mechanisms.As the queer movement faces growing repression, standing brave in contentious spaces is not only symbolic but also strategic. The renewal of the IE SOGI’s mandate ensures that this critical work, data collection, reporting, and advocacy can continue over the next three years. And with it, Rainbow Railroad renews its commitment to keeping the rights of forcibly displaced  LGBTQI+ people and refugees at the centre of humanitarian and refugee protection systems.  

On October 30, 2025, Rainbow Railroad was warned that the Russian government formally blocked access to the organization's website in keeping with the Supreme Court’s decision to classify the “International LGBTQI+ Movement” as an extremist organization. This decision is part of a decade of escalating repression, including the expansion of the 2013 “gay propaganda” law and the 2023 bans on gender-affirming healthcare, legal gender recognition, and family rights for transgender people. Any public discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity is now effectively criminalized. For more than a decade, Rainbow Railroad has intervened in Russia to protect at-risk LGBTQI+ Russians fleeing persecution. At the height of the anti-gay purge in Chechnya, Rainbow Railroad was among the first international organizations on the ground, supporting emergency evacuations and creating pathways to safety for LGBTQI+ people from Russia. Since the latest wave of anti-LGBTQI+ criminalization, Russia remains one of the top ten countries from which we receive requests for help. In 2023, at the height of the Russian and Ukraine war, we received 464 requests from Russia and facilitated 15 emergency relocations. To date, we have supported a total of 65 individuals at extreme risk to reach safer destinations in Argentina, France and Spain.What is unfolding in Russia does not exist in isolation. This campaign of repression is part of a wider global backlash. Just this year, Hungary adopted a new law criminalizing consensual same-sex relations and the so-called “promotion” of homosexuality. The same rhetoric of “protecting tradition” is being deployed across surrounding regions, such as Azerbaijan, to dismantle civil society and erase queer existence from public life.Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many LGBTQI+ Russians have fled to neighbouring countries such as Armenia, Georgia, and Poland to escape conscription and repression, only to face renewed stigma and lack of legal protection as a result of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). In this context, the banning of Rainbow Railroad’s website carries grave consequences. Its shutdown directly cuts off a critical gateway to refugee protection, particularly in a time when international sanctions have already narrowed options for safe exit, and the few remaining destinations where LGBTQI+ Russians can still enter, including Türkiye, remain unsafe for queer and trans people.For many forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ Russians, Rainbow Railroad’s website serves as a critical entry point to safety, access to vital information and assessment of protection options. As Pride symbols are outlawed, Russian civil society is silenced, and the already fragile LGBTQI+ civic space continues to shrink under state censorship. We call on the Canadian government and the European Union to act with urgency and principle by sustaining funding for human rights defenders and civil society organizations  worldwide, and consider the following:Expand emergency visas and human rights defenders protection streams for LGBTQI+ Russians who have been forced into exile.Publicly condemn the instrumentalization of so-called “anti-extremism” laws to criminalize identity, suppress civic space and deter the Russian government's systemic assault on the rights of LGBTQI+ people.When access to information is cut, escape routes narrow. Invisibility is being weaponized against LGBTQI+ people in Russia, and silence from states only intensifies harm. Digital censorship is not symbolic; it is an authoritarian tactic that entraps and isolates LGBTQI+ people, increasing their exposure to violence, arbitrary detention, and forced displacement.Take 60 seconds today to support our 60in60 campaign and stand with LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers.

Rainbow Railroad condemns a series of recent directives from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that further threaten asylum and refugee protections across the United States. Last week, a leaked memo from USCIS outlined plans to review over 230,000 refugees admitted between January 2021 and February 2025, and immediately halt the processing of all green card applications for refugees, as well as call for the full suspension of asylum case processing.Although the U.S. operates one of the most stringent refugee vetting processes of any resettlement country, it has also reinstated intrusive “turn back” practices that deny asylum seekers the right to apply for protection at its border. This dual attack on the cornerstone of U.S. humanitarian law will place LGBTQI+ asylum seekers at even greater risk as the doors to safety close. Under the previous administration, Rainbow Railroad — as the only LGBTQI+-led Private Sponsor Organization (PSO) in the U.S.— helped launch and operationalize the Welcome Corps Private Sponsorship Program. Through this program, we successfully resettled  42 LGBTQI+ refugees and served as a consultative partner to ensure queer competency was built into the program and shared as a best practice to other immigration organizations. In 2024, we advanced to third-party naming, which enabled direct LGBTQI+ referrals into the United States Refugee Admission Program (USRAP), a historic milestone for LGBTQI+ refugee resettlement. The current U.S. Administration’s anti-LBGTQI+ and anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric continue to dismantle these gains systematically. The indefinite suspension of refugee pathways, such as USRAP, coupled with the recent order to reopen finalized cases and freeze refugee protections, retraumatizes LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and refugees who face persecution, bias, and violence throughout their journeys to build safety.These orders will not only endanger LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and refugees within U.S borders, but will also have regional consequences. As U.S. refugee protections collapse, LGBTQI+ asylum seekers impacted by this policy regime will face a growing risk of recurrent displacement. With lawful pathways closing, many LGBTQI+ asylum seekers residing in the U.S. will be forced to seek out irregular pathways toward Canada in search of safety. Rainbow Railroad anticipates a growing demand for requests for help coming from LGBTQI+ asylum seekers seeking safety at the U.S.-Canada border who face heightened risk of arbitrary detention, misgendering, and accelerated asylum procedures that fail to account for the realities of SOGIESC-based persecution. The U.S. no longer functions as a rights-based democracy for those seeking protection, as mechanisms of accountability have been replaced by surveillance and “counter terrorism” frameworks that disproportionately target LGBTQI+, human rights defenders, and migrant communities. Operating within this hostile context, Rainbow Railroad continues to support queer and trans asylum seekers with cash assistance and through our Community Support Teams and Community Access Fund. We are committed to assisting at least 900 LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. by the end of the year.Rainbow Railroad calls on our community of donors to sustain our work during this increasingly difficult time. A successful 60in60 campaign will enable us to support the most at-risk and affected individuals as we work to expand pathways to safety for forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ refugees at a moment of unprecedented need.

The global landscape for LGBTQI+ rights is shifting sharply as authoritarian ideologies gain power, transnational anti-rights coalitions deepen, and governments increasingly weaponize gender as a site of political control. This year alone, the transgender community has seen countries such as Cuba, Germany, and Sweden advance protections for gender-diverse people; these gains stand alongside an alarming wave of coordinated regression. Nowhere is this more evident than in the United States, where state-led efforts are actively dismantling transgender rights and reshaping public policy around the belief that gender is fixed at birth.In the United States, the elimination of the “X” gender marker on identity documents and the enforcement of Executive Order 14168 represent a profound rollback of federal recognition for transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse, and intersex people. This policy does more than impose a rigid male and female binary; it reframes transgender existence as a matter of national security. By casting gender diversity as a threat to public order, the U.S. government legitimizes heightened surveillance, secondary screening, and discretionary border control, targeting trans and gender-diverse travelers. For refugees fleeing gender-based persecution, this is not an abstract policy shift; being misgendered at a border crossing can trigger harassment, detention, or refoulement. For foreign nationals, including Canadians who hold “X” passports, this environment creates new barriers to safe mobility.These rollbacks dangerously intersect with Canada’s continued enforcement of the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). Despite overwhelming evidence that trans, non-binary, and intersex people face heightened discrimination and violence when forced to claim asylum in the United States, the STCA presumes the United States to be a safe country of refuge. This presumption no longer holds. Under current U.S. policy, LGBTQI+ asylum seekers—particularly those with diverse gender identities—risk being detained, misgendered, denied adequate protection, or fast-tracked through processes that fail to account for the complexities of SOGIESC-based persecution. Canada must urgently act by exempting trans, non-binary, and intersex asylum seekers from the STCA and ensuring they can seek safety without being pushed back into a system that increasingly treats their identities as security threats rather than grounds for protection.Forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ people already face heightened scrutiny due to their vulnerability, lack of documentation, and exposure to anti-LGBTQI+ persecution. When states recast gender diversity as a security risk, they create direct pathways to violence. Inaccurate identity documents increase the likelihood of being misgendered in detention, denied entry at borders, or placed in unsafe facilities.Rainbow Railroad is calling on civil society to defend gender-diverse documentation rights and to oppose policies grounded in a rigid, birth-based definition of gender. We call on the government of Canada to continue recognizing “X” markers and protect the mobility of those whose identities fall outside imposed binaries by exempting trans, non-binary, and intersex asylum seekers from the STCA to prevent refoulement into danger.Safe mobility is not a privilege; it is a right that must be protected.

Bill C-12 has the potential to endanger the lives of LGBTQI+ people fleeing persecution.

Rainbow Railroad's response to the delivery of the 2025 Canadian Federal Budget.