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In the vibrant urban centers of today, amidst the trendy cafes and bustling art scenes frequented by hipsters, the LGBTQI+ community in Africa often faces hidden struggles. These young people, seamlessly blending into the stylish crowd, may be living on the edge of poverty.

Many within this community have harrowing pasts. Forced to flee their homelands due to persecutions, prevailing hostile legal provisions, and and sentiments like "homosexuality is unnatural, un-African, and unchristian," they endured arduous journeys to reach UN refugee camps. Tragically, the refuge they sought often fails to provide safety. Brutality, hate, and violence, including sexual assault, continue to plague their lives. Hate crimes, homophobia, and exclusion remain rampant, leaving them vulnerable and traumatized.

Faced with these unimaginable hardships, some are driven to desperate measures, such as prostitution for basic necessities like food and shelter, to survive.

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According to a 2023 report from Amnesty International, hate crimes are regularly committed in Kakuma against LGBTQ+ individuals, including brutal violence like rape, along with a slew of other serious human rights violations.

They face daily challenges of verbal assaults, relentless attaches, rapes, poisonings, discrimination of all sorts. Denied education and employment opportunities, most queer people are unable to afford basic necessities such as food and water, which plunges them deeper into poverty compared to the camp’s general population.

Hate crimes are a criminal manifestation of the discrimination LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers face.

Jackie (left), a 28-year-old lesbian woman who fled persecution in Uganda after her 1-year-old daughter was killed, is seated with Nina, a 24-year-old transgender refugee, shortly after Jackie’s arrival at the camp, August 21, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Nina)

Wearing a rainbow bracelet on her right hand, Nina sits outside a shelter in the Kakuma refugee camp earlier this year. Her dreadlocks were later forcibly cut by the Kenyan police. “They’re trying to keep us silent,” said Nina. “They want to arrest every [LGBTQ] person that raises awareness or talks about our situation on social media.” (Photo courtesy of Nina)

U.N.H.C.R.: LGBTQ refugees in the camp “face challenges in their daily lives as a result of discrimination and intolerance.” Both Amnesty International and the National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission say that Kakuma “is not safe for LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees.” 

"The Gospel has to be in context with the Kingdom of God. The Gospel is about the King who is ushering in the recreation of the whole world, eradicating all forms of evil, bringing the good news by forgiving sins, bringing justice and mercy to those being oppressed, going towards those who are hurting, those who are hungry, and those being violated against, caring for the sick and those in worn, torn places." ~ Danny Cortez

Isiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

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