Leaving the place where you were born and raised, and immigrating to another country, even for good reasons, usually make up a lonely experience. When we leave our homelands, we leave behind the comfort of familiarity. We find ourselves struggling for the smallest things and maybe miss the ease of our previous lives. Things might get more complicated for LGBTQI+ people, because even if the address changes, discrimination does not come to an end.
In countries we immigrate to, solidarity becomes the most important guide to find our ways in life and not to feel alone. The sole existence of those with similar problems and stories, and communities that give the warmest welcome make the unfamiliar places somewhat familiar. As a part of our dossier ‘‘Talking about Migration,’’ we wanted to prepare a solidarity guide for LGBTQI+ people who migrated from Turkey to other places. With the contributions of Velvele followers, we compiled queer formations and organizations created for immigrants in different cities of the world .
Instead of a one-time list, the Solidarity Guide is a living document to accompany your immigrant experience. If you want to make an addition to the guide, please contact us at iletisim@velvele.net or Velvele’s social media accounts.
Albania
Streha, Tiran
Streha is a concrete service which answers immediately and professionally to emergent needs of LGBTI youth community. Their services include safe housing, accommodation, individual development plans, psycho-social support, group therapy, performing basic skills, career counseling, referrals to specialized services, negotiation for employment, negotiation with families, medical/legal assistance.
E-mail: strehalgbt@gmail.com
Belgium
Genres pluriels, Brussels
Genres Pluriels was created in 2007 and aims to make visible the existence of fluid genders, transgender and intersex people and defend their rights. They advocate for offering asylum to gender fluid, transgender or intersex people whose health or life would be threatened if they were returned to their country of origin
E-mail: contact@genrepluriels.be
Le CHEFF (Fédération des jeunes LGBTQIA+), Brussels
The mission of the CHEFF is to enable LGBTQIA youth to meet, express themselves, learn and interact on the topics that affect them, through activities that are sometimes recurrent, sometimes ad hoc. Whether in the study community, the family environment or in society in general, they aim to offer spaces of exchange essential to the development of all young people belonging to sexual minorities.
Website
E-mail: info@lescheff.be
Tels Quels, Brussels
Tels Quels is a pluralistic association that focuses on gay information and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people through continuing education, through collective actions to welcome and meet, through an individual approach to the problems of homosexuality, comprehensive social action for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Tels Quels is recognized by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation as an association of continuing education according to the Decree of 17 July 2003. The aim of this Decree is to develop associative action in the field of continuing education aimed at the critical analysis of society, the stimulation of democratic and collective initiatives, the development of active citizenship and the exercise of social, cultural, environmental and economic rights from the perspective of individual and collective emancipation of the public, with a focus on the active participation of the targeted audiences and cultural expression.
Denmark
Lgbt Asylum, Copenhagen
LGBT Asylum is an NGO and group of LGBT+ people – asylum seekers, refugees, Danish citizens, and persons residing in Denmark. LGBT Asylum works with improving the conditions and rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons who seek asylum or live as refugees in Denmark – by support and legal counselling throughout the asylum and integration process, by offering a psychosocial LGBT+ network, and by advocacy work. LGBT Asylum has its headquarters in Copenhagen and a local group in Aarhus.
Website
E-mail: info@lgbtasylum.dk
France
Fondation Le Refuge, in 15+ cities including Paris, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, Marseille, Nice and more
Le Refuge Foundation accommodates and supports young LGBT+ people, aged 14 to 25, rejected by their parents, expelled from the family home, because they are homosexual or trans and/or questioning their identity.
HOM’UP, Loire Atlantique
Hom’Up offers shelter and psycho-social support to young men and women aged 18 to 25 excluded from their families because of their sexual orientations.
NOSIG – Centre LGBTQI+ Nantes, Nantes
NOSIG, Nantes LGBTI+ center is an association dedicated to combat any discrimination lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people face. It provides support to LGBTI+’s in a variety of topics, including informing LGBTI+ asylum seekers on their right to asylum and mobilizing the LGBTI+ community in support of refugees.
Germany
Café Kuchus, Berlin
Café Kuchus provides a pleasant and safe place to meet other LGBTI refugees, ask the social workers about whatever you need, or just to have some tea and access our WIFI network. Specialised Counselling centre for LGBTI Refugees. Legal Advice on Asylum procedures and migration laws for LGBTI Refugees. Psychological Counselling for LGBTI Refugees. Official Shelter for LGBTI Refugees.
Address: Wilhelmstraße 115 in 10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Fliederlich, Nürnberg
Fliederlich is a shelter devoted especially to the reception of LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers.
E-mail: verein@fliederlich.de
Address: Sandstraße 1 im 1. Stock * 90443 Nürnberg
Schwulenberatung Berlin, Berlin
Shwulenberatung is a counseling center for gay and bisexual man, trans and intersexual people, people living with HIV/Aids and their relatives or partners. It includes a highly professional and skilled team of doctors, educators, health scientists, pedagogues, psychologists, psychotherapists, social scientists and social workers, administrators, as well as many volunteers and freelancers. They provide services in many languages such as Arabic, English, French, Greek, Polish, Slovak, Spanish, Czech, Russian or Turkish. If a language in need is not listed, they always strive to find a suitable interpreter. They help those seeking advice, counselling and long or short term support and offer either 1-on-1 and/or group counseling in all matters regarding coming out, mental health, age related problems, alcohol and drug use, addiction, HIV/Aids, discrimination, trans and intersex related topics
Website
E-mail: info@schwulenberatungberlin.de
Greece
Safe Place International, Athens
Safe Place International is a holistic leadership development organization for displaced LGBTQIA+ individuals. As the lived experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community are overlooked, they endeavor to create pathways for a sustainable and fulfilled life that celebrates the unique qualities that their lives hold. They are a refugee-led, person of color-led, and women-led organization!
Italy
Casa Arcobaleno (Spazio Aperto Servizi), Milano
It is a social enterprise established in Milan in 1993, with the aim of taking care of people living in situations of fragility, through a network of social, health, welfare, educational and housing services.
Website
E-mail: info@spazioapertoservizi.org
CASA+ (Croce Rossa Italiana), Rome
A temporary and protection shelter for LGBT youth.
Website
E-mail: casa@criroma.org
Casa Marcella (Consultorio Transgenere / Nelumbo), Toscana
A temporary shelter for people who do not identify with their assigned gender at birth and are therefore victims of discrimination and violence.
Website
E-mail: segreteria@consultoriotransgenere.it
Questa Casa non è un Albergo (I Ken), Naples
Shelter Home for homosexual and transgender youth.
Website
E-mail: info@i-ken.org
To Housing (Quore / Babel), Torino
TO HOUSING is a new social co-housing in Turin that welcomes LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in condition of extreme vulnerability.
Website
E-mail: tohousing@quore.org
Ireland
Irish Refugee Council, Dublin
They provide direct support to people at every stage of the international protection process from a diverse range of backgrounds, each person presenting with complex issues and particular needs. They work to support LGBT people seeking asylum to overcome and address these specific challenges through both individual case work and our policy and advocacy activities such as our Identity Peer Support Group. As well, they advocate for improved conditions for LGBT people seeking asylum in Ireland and for their full inclusion within Irish society.
Website
E-mail: claire@irishrefugeecouncil.ie
Luxembourg
CENTRE LGBTIQ+ CIGALE, Lüksemburg
CIGALE is a professional office which offers advice and support to every person having questions regarding sexual orientation, coming-out and gender identity. CIGALE was created in 2002 and is officially recognized by the Ministry of Family, Integration and the Greater Region. Our Centre welcomes the LGBTIQ+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer) and every person interested in topics related to sexual and gender diversity.
Website
Malta
MGRM, Mosta
MGRM offers various support services to LGBTIQ individuals as well as their families and friends. These include the National Gay Helpline, the weekly LGBTIQ Youth Drop-In, social work and counselling support, legal advice, and on-line support through email and social media. This office is also responsible for delivering talks and training to raise awareness on LGBTIQ issues among students, professional bodies, employers and the general public.
Website
E-mail: mgrm@maltagayrights.org
Netherlands
LGBT Asylum Support, Gröningen
LGBT Asylum Support is a Dutch NGO for LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersexual) refugees.
Website
E-mail: info@lgbtasylumsupport.nl
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Poland
Lambda Warsawa, Warsaw
Lambda Warszawa has been active in supporting and creating a space necessary to create a positive identity of the LGBTQI+ community in Poland since 1997. They run wide-scale assistance activities, supporting persons who have been going through hardships due to their sexual orientation and gender identity as well as those experiencing violence and discrimination on this basis and who need professional support. They also carry out activities aiming at supporting organizations, public institutions and companies to implement equality policies, they perform antidiscrimination trainings and workshops, and they also take part in LGBTQI+ community events.
Website
E-mail: ykostrzewa@lambdawarszawa.org
Spain
Acathi, Barcelona
The Nausica programme provides temporary housing and specialised intervention services for individuals or families (in the case of ACATHI, SOGI) who have applied for or benefited from international protection and who are in a situation of vulnerability and social exclusion. It is a programme that complements state resources and has a double direction: on the one hand, it aims to continue with the processes of autonomy already initiated previously and, on the other hand, to be able to work and support an adequate landing in the city, both to acquire or solidify the processes of autonomy and to access standardized public services with intensive work in advance.
Website
E-mail: acathi@acathi.org
Fundación Eddy-G, Madrid
Fundación Eddy-G is a shelter home in Spain for young people from the LGTBI group who are victims of family violence, bullying or any other form of LGTBfobia.
Website
KifKif, Madrid
Kifkif is an association of LGTBI+ migrants and refugees.
Website
Sweden
RFSL, Stockholm
The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Rights, is a non-profit organization founded in 1950. RFSL strives to create an equal world where all LGBTQI people’s human rights are respected and no one is left behind.
Website
E-mail: forbund@rfsl.se
SQI Syd, Malmö
SQI Syd is a non-partisan and non-religious local association for racialized LGBTQIA+ people (in other words queer people of color, QPOC). The association is a member organization of Refugees Welcome Sweden.
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Türkiye
Hevi LGBTİ, İstanbul
Hêvî LGBTI+ was founded in 2013 as a result of independent LGBTI+ people uniting and organizing around shared values. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersexual (LGBTI+) activists formed Hêvî, which believe that lgBTI+ policies should be addressed within a broad political framework and regards class, ethnicity, nonsexism, migrant and refugee rights, as well as freedom of people and environment, as essential components of LGBTI+ policies. Hêvî LGBTI+ initiative, mostly formed by Kurdish LGBTI+ people, has gradually included activists from different ethnicities. Hêvî LGBTI+ initiative, where LGBTI+ individuals of many various origins including Armenian, Arab, and Turk got together and produced policies, became an official association in 2015.
Website
United Kingdom
Harem of No One, London
A collective of queer performers of Turkish, Kurdish, Cypriot & Southwest Asian heritages, from East London.
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Stonewall housing, London
Stonewall housing is a charity supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) people of all ages who live in the UK and are experiencing homelessness or living in an unsafe environment. Founded in 1983, they provide housing advice, mental health advocacy and support for people fleeing domestic abuse. They also have a safe accommodation scheme in London.
Website
E-mail: cat@stonewallhousing.org
United States of America
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP), New York
The Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP) is a collective Alternative to Detention (ATD), detention center visitation, direct service, and community organizing project that works with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Two Spirit, Trans, Gender Non- Conforming, and HIV+ detainees and their families currently in detention centers, those that are recently released from detention centers, and undocumented folks in New York City. QDEP also runs an information hotline.
Hotline: 347.645.9339 (Pazartesi – Cuma 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
Address: 252 Java Street, #237, Brooklyn, NY 11222
E-mail: info@qdep.org
Better Together NYC (BTNYC), New York
Better Together NYC was formed in 2014 as LGBT-FAN’s local partner organization to fill the role of a community-based initiative to improve communications, resources, strategy, and programming among the diversity of LGBTIQ, immigration, civil society, and government groups and individuals. BTNYC remains purposefully unfunded in order not to compete with the many wonderful organizations and groups already rivaling for the paucity of funding for LGBTIQ immigrant direct services; rather, BTNYC supports the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area LGBTIQ asylum community through solidarity mobilization, local resource referrals, and solutions-based project lead and management.
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HIAS, New York
HIAS supports LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers to access their rights and rebuild their lives in dignity. They offer legal services, including free legal advice and representation for those fleeing persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and help them access other basic rights. They support survivors and reduce the risk of gender-based violence through case management, referrals to essential services, outreach, and information-sharing. As well, HIAS provides specialized services while working to change the attitudes that perpetuate harassment and discrimination. Their community-based mental health and psychosocial support programs promote mental health and well-being so LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers can heal and rebuild their lives. HIAS’ economic inclusion programs help LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers build skills and achieve financial independence so they can provide for themselves and their families while contributing to the local economy. Throughout the HIAS affiliate network spanning 24 cities in the United States, HIAS provides comprehensive legal, resettlement, and case management services to LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers.
Website
Immigration Equality, New York
Immigration Equality is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1994.[1] Based in New York, it both advocates for and directly represents LGBTQ and HIV-positive people in the immigration system.[2][3][4] The organization provides guidance and legal counsel for LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants, particularly those seeking asylum from countries where they face persecution. In 2017, it provided over $33 million in free legal services for low-income LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants.
Website
International Rescue Committee, New York
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises. They help to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster.
Website
L’Unicorns, New York
L’Unicorns have created a safe space for the LGBTQ Latinx immigrants, where members can share information, access education, cultural opportunities, and critical resources. They function under the umbrella La Colmena Community Job Center.
E-mail: lunicornssiny@gmail.com
National İmmigrant Justice Center, Chicago
NIJC’s LGBTQ Immigrant Rights Initiative provides legal services to low-income immigrants who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) and those who are living with HIV.
Website
E-mail: lgbtimmigrants@heartlandalliance.org.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), New York
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) is an umbrella policy & advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York.
Website
E-mail: info@nyic.org
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Sponsored by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung with funds of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany. The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of Velvele and does not necessarily reflect the position of RLS”.
