Rainbows Across Borders receives a generous donation from The Pink Triangle Trust

By Barry Duke • 3 years ago

Sep
2019

Money will help LGBT asylum seekers in Britain

RAINBOWS Across Borders, a UK-based voluntary self-help group for lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender (LGBT) asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution of oppressive homophobic/transphobic regimes has been given a £500 donation by The Pink Triangle Trust.

Photo courtesy of Rainbows Across Borders

In a letter of thanks to the PTT, the group, which operates out of Croydon in south London, said:

It is noted by members of Rainbows Across Borders that the PTT has been our constant supporter: not only in the encouragement given for what we constantly try to achieve, but, also for the regularity of the of financial support provided to enable the group to cover the cost to cover the fees of their meetings.

It added that:

We continue to struggle through lack of resources to fulfil many of our objectives. However, what we are proud of since our inception in January 2013 is that no member who has been constant & involved with the group has been removed & sent back to their countries of origin. It’s calculated that the numbers ‘granted leave to remain’ in the UK, so far is 194.

The group pursues policies of integration with LGBT Groups in Croydon and elsewhere. It provides a secure and safe space for members to share experiences as LGBT asylum seekers and to mutually build confidence and knowledge about the asylum process as it affects the individual applicant. It’s supported by those who have already been granted leave to stay in the United Kingdom.

The group also supports the work of campaigning groups and charities and refers members to those that campaign and provide legal and other support services for asylum seekers.

You can contact RAB at info@rainbowsacrossborders.org.uk.

It Annual Report for 2013–14 is now available to download (pdf format).

The Author

Barry Duke

Veteran journalist Barry Duke, born in South Africa in 1947, settled in the UK in 1973, where he became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement and gay rights organisations. A militant atheist, he joined the National Secular Society (NSS) and was a co-founder in 1979 of the Gay Humanist Group which changed its name to the Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association in 1987. In 2017 he was handed a Lifetime Achievement award by the NSS for his "spirited opposition to religious intolerance and irrationality" in his roles as a free speech advocate and his work as editor of the Freethinker and the Pink Triangle Trust website. In 2022, when the Freethinker suddenly went "woke", he was summarily sacked for being too aggressively atheistic. In 2017 he was married to his partner of 25 years, Marcus Robinson, in Gibraltar. The couple live in Benidorm, Spain.

Comments

September 26, 2019

Reply

Diesel Balaam

It’s good to hear that 194 LGBT asylum seekers have been granted leave to remain in the UK. Many faced appalling danger, brutality and ostracism in their home countries. Together with secular activists and democracy activists, LGBT asylum seekers should go straight to the front of the queue, as far as I’m concerned.
October 1, 2019

Reply

NPJ

There is a very urgent need for LGBT asylum seekers to have access to groups like RAB given the potential dire consequences of deporting them back to their country of origin. Heartening to hear that none of those that have sought RAB’s help have been deported.