Refugee | LGBTQ & Refugee Rights Activist π | Transgender π³οΈββ§οΈ | Click the link below and donate to our fundraiser to help us survive hunger
Joined October 2017
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The kind of homophobia that weβLGBTQ refugees living in Gorom refugee settlement campβexperience in South Sudan is quite nauseating. Homophobia deserves no place in the 21st century. Please amplify our voices as we challenge this unfair social ill.
π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ
#LGBTQ #Queer
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The only reason why weβthe LGBTQ refugees in Gorom Refugee camp in South Sudanβare living in these uncomfortable wornout tents is because we chose to be ourselves. We just chose to express ourselves authentically and the Government and society persecuted us.
π³οΈβππ³οΈββ§οΈ
#PrideMonth
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If you have never had sex with them, how then do you know their sexuality?
You mean the scammers who say theyβre bisexual to attain refugee status?
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π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈββ§οΈ
MY PERSONAL STORY AS A TRANSGENDER REFUGEE:
Hello everyone! I'm Vivian [legal name is Abola], a transgender woman refugee, currently living in Gorom refugee camp in South Sudan with other LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers from Uganda, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and Ethiopia. All of us were previously residing in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. π
Β When I first came out as a queer person in my home country, Uganda, I faced a lot of discrimination, arbitrary arrests and assaults not only from law enforcement officers but also from members in my community including my friends and relatives. The dislike and homophobia was so intense that even my relatives and friends disowned and ostracized me. π
Β As a result of the persecution (arbitrary arrests and assaults), discrimination, and the draconian homophobic laws, I fled Uganda to Kenya in 2021 and claimed asylum; I filed my asylum case with the UNHCR (the United Nations Refugee Agency) and the Government of Kenya. The Government of Kenya reserves the mandate of conducting Refugee Status Determination and granting refugee status to asylum seekers. π
Unfortunately the Government of Kenya refused to grant me and other queer refugees, a Refugee Status Determination (RSD) interview because they didn't want to grant refugee status and thus legal residence status to queer asylum seekers. π
Β Towards the end of 2023 when they (Government officers working in Kakuma refugee camp) explicitly told us (the LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers) to go away and find somewhere else to claim asylum and safety, I moved to South Sudan together with my fellow LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers and we sought asylum in South Sudan. Unlike in Kenya, the UNHCR in South Sudan is allowed by the Government of South Sudan to conduct the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) interviews using their International experts. Fortunately, the UNHCR in South Sudan granted me and my fellow LGBTQ refugees a Refugee Status Determination (RSD) interview which I passed and I was granted refugee status which meant a little bit of safety from continued persecution since I can't be deported back to Uganda because I am a recognized refugee. π
Β I have been a refugee and an Asylum seeker for nearly four years in Kenya and South Sudan. I still face a lot of psychological torture and trauma as a result of the persecution I faced in my home country Uganda; I was also disowned and ostracized by my relatives and friends, a fact that is significantly contributing to the psychological torture that I am experiencing. π
My unfortunate experience of persecution and discrimination has pushed me to becoming an LGBTQ rights activist and advocate. I dream about the day when I will speak for the voiceless queer people on the world stage. I hope for a world where no queer person has to forcefully leave the comfort of their home country to seek asylum in a foreign country in an attempt to save their lives, a world where no queer person is discriminated against, a world where draconian laws criminalizing homosexuality are a subject of history. Such a world is possible only when you and I join hands and resources and amplify each other's voicesοΈβ. π
While in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, I participated in a lot of advocacy and activism regarding LGBTQ refugee rights and safety. My advocacy work was documented on the Instagram account @sevencolorspectrumkakuma
Click the link below to check out the Instagram profile and see the work of my activism and advocacy while the LGBTQ refugee community was still residing in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya:
instagram.com/p/C2PoBxvrGd0/β¦
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WHY YOU SHOULD DONATE:
We face numerous challenges. Mental health challenges such as psychological torture and stress are very common amongst us. We also face discrimination from the rest of the refugee population and the host community. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) provides financial support in the local South Sudan currency, the South Sudanese Pounds, an equivalent of only $10 per refugee per month for basic needs. This money can't sustain us for more than a day considering the high inflation in South Sudan where we are living That amount given to us in South Sudanese Pounds is too little to sustain a person for more than a day. Therefore there is a challenge of lack of basic needs like food, clean drinking water, clothes, decent shelters, healthcare, etc. There are a considerable number of LGBTQ refugees in the camp who suffer from diseases such as HIV/AIDS, asthma, epilepsy, sickle cells, and of recent, cholera has become very common. π
As an LGBTQ refugee rights activist, a representative and one of the leaders of our community, one of my tasks is to advocate for the betterment of the living conditions of the LGBTQ refugees in Gorom refugee camp. To that end, I reached out to a well-wisher based in the United States last year to help us set up a fundraising campaign on the popular crowdfunding platform "gofundme" since someone in Africa can't create a fundraising campaign on the platform. On April 29th, 2025 they launched our fundraiser which you can donate to by visiting the link below:
gofund.me/7f983d1e2
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Queer Wolf π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ retweeted
πREPOST FOR A WIDER REACH
π Amid the relentless sun and swirling dusts of the refugee camps, first at Kakuma refugee camp and now at Gorom refugee settlement camp, something extraordinary happens: we claim space, we claim joy, we claim our right to exist.
In moments of celebrating pride, we had rainbow flags strung across the sky like promises that refuse to fade, colorful capes and scarves draped over our shoulders like armor of pride, fingers raised in peace signs and rock horns, faces beaming with unfiltered laughter and love. A crowd of us, wrapped in every shade of the rainbow, standing tall in a place that was never meant to welcome people like us. Huts patched together from whatever we could find become the backdrop to our defiance, umbrellas burst into brilliant color to shield not just from the heat, but from erasure.
We did not end up here by chance. Many of us fled brutal persecution in our home countries, in Uganda, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, and beyond, where loving who we love or being who we are is a crime punishable by long prison sentences, violence or death. We sought refuge in Kenya's Kakuma camp, only to face arson, attacks, denial of asylum claims by the Kenyan Government, and hostility that made safety impossible. So we moved again, crossing borders on foot, in trucks, with nothing but hope and each other, arriving in Gorom, South Sudan, a settlement run by UNHCR but still shadowed by stigma, criminalization of same-sex intimacy, aid shortages, threats of eviction, and the constant fear that visibility could cost us everything but at least here, we had our asylum claims recognised, by the humanitarian and unbiased UNHCR unlike the Kenyan Government, and we were granted refugee status.
These photos capture more than a gathering. They capture resistance in motion. Every flag waving overhead is a declaration that we are still here. Every arm around a shoulder, every shared smile, every bold outfit is proof that chosen family can be stronger than any border or law designed to divide us. In a world that too often forgets refugees, and forgets queer refugees even more, we refuse to be invisible. We dance, we pose, we laugh because joy is our loudest form of protest. We raise these colors because no camp, no government order, no act of hate can strip us of who we are.
This is queer resilience forged in fire, raw, radiant, unbreakable. This is what survival looks like when the system fails you again and again, yet love and community rise anyway.
To every LGBTQ person reading this from anywhere in displacement, you are seen, you are valid, your existence is powerful. To allies, friends, and strangers with hearts open to justice, please amplify these stories. Support organizations like Rainbow Railroad working on urgent resettlement and safety pathways. Pressure governments for real solutions because backlogs and cuts are killing hope, but community keeps it alive.
We exist. We resist. We shine brighter than the challenges trying to dim us.
Together, we are unstoppable. π³οΈβππ«πͺβ¨
#QueerRefugees #GoromCamp #LGBTQRefugees #PrideInDisplacement #RainbowFamily #FromKakumaToGorom #QueerJoyIsResistance #EastAfricaQueer #ResilientAndRainbow #VisibilityIsResistance #SayNoToHomophobia
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Queer Wolf π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ retweeted
Two Lesbians who were arrested in Arua City have been remanded to Arua prison for doing acts contrary to the provisions of Anti Homosexuality.
We sincerely thank the @PoliceUg & the @ODPPUGANDA for working together to follow the matter.
@Tom_Magambo @martinssempa @aitajoel
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Queer Wolf π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ retweeted
Homosexuality is LOVE, not a fucking "crime".
Hope this helps.
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Queer Wolf π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ retweeted
πIn the heart of Gorom Refugee Settlement (first photo), where safety is never guaranteed and every day demands courage, we still find ways to gather, to breathe, to be fully ourselves.
In the second photo, our community, back then in Kakuma refugee camp, stood strong on dusty grounds of the Turkana desert, rainbow colors shining in clothing and spirit, even as the police came in trucks to brutally crash the peaceful protest against homophobia that we had organized that day. This isn't just a photo. It's a statement that amid uncertainty, threats, and the constant weight of displacement, we refuse to hide or breakdown. We stand together, visible, unapologetic, saying "No" to homophobia with every outfit, every linked arm, every raised voice. "SAY NO TO HOMOPHOBIA" isn't just printed on a shirt, it is lived here, every single day.
The first photo brings it home: friends and chosen family squeezed onto stools under a thatched roof, a vibrant pride flag backdrop framing our smiles, peace signs, and laughter. We share space, stories, and hope. In a place where basic needs are stretched thin and resettlement feels distant, these moments remind us why we keep going: because community is our strongest shelter.
From Kakuma's dangers to Gorom's challenges, we have crossed borders, survived violence, and rebuilt again and again. Homophobia follows, aid shortages bite harder, and the world often looks away... but look at us. We are still here. Still laughing. Still loving. Still raising our flags against the odds.
This is queer resilience in its rawest form. This is chosen family refusing to be broken. This is proof that joy can bloom even in the harshest soil.
We exist. We resist. We shine. ππ«πͺ
#QueerRefugees #GoromCamp #LGBTQRefugees #PrideInDisplacement #RainbowFamily #FromKakumaToGorom #QueerJoyIsResistance #EastAfricaQueer #ResilientAndRainbow #SayNoToHomophobia
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Fuck your friends and family. Your life, your rules, your authenticity, your comfort, your truth. π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ
I want to transition but it sounds scary and I don't know how my friends and family would react
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RT @MzSgtPepper: I wish people feared their sons being rapists, pedophiles, abusers and not trans or gay.
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Queer Wolf π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ retweeted
π From the dust and dangers of Kakuma refugee camp to the uncertain horizons of Gorom refugee camp, we keep moving forward together.
Many of us fled persecution in our home countries (Uganda, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, and beyond), seeking safety in Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp. But even there, violence, arson attacks, denial of asylum processing by the Kenyan Government, and hostility from other refugees and the host community forced us to flee again. In late 2023 and early 2024 and onward, hundreds of us crossed the border into South Sudan, hoping Gorom Refugee Settlement might offer a fragile new beginning.
Here we are: smiling under this rainbow umbrella, arms around each other, wearing our colors proudly despite the heat, the shortages, the threats, and the world's often deafening silence. This photo isn't just joy. It is defiance. It is proof that queer love, chosen family, and unbreakable spirit survive borders, camps, and hate.
We laugh because we must. We hold tight because no one else will. We raise this umbrella because our light refuses to be extinguished.
To everyone reading this: See us. Amplify us. Support us. Resettlement pathways are backlogged, aid cuts hurt, and safety remains precarious but an online community of queer folks around the globe strong.
We exist. We resist. We are not invisible. π³οΈβππ«
#QueerRefugees #LGBTQRefugees #KakumaToGorom #GoromCamp #PrideInDisplacement #RainbowFamily #EastAfricaQueer #Resilience #ChosenFamily #QueerJoyIsResistance
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Many humans now prioritise cardiac health to mental health. Why are you cutting down on cholesterol intake but sleeping for less than 8 hours a day? A kind reminder that your brain is what even gave you that wonderful thought of taking care of your heart by cutting down on your cholesterol consumption. Take care of your brain today. Get enough sleep, 8 hours a day.
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Queer Wolf π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ retweeted
Feb 26
Do you consider Representative Al Green brave and visionary leader?
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Stop #homophobia in Uganda right now.
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Perhaps those are mannequins?
@realMaalouf
Feb 26
Why even take a photo when you dress like this? I genuinely donβt get it. Youβre not even there.
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Queer Wolf π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβπ retweeted
uganda is a graveyard for lgbtqi rights
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