A Safe Refuge

In early spring of 2011 the Rainbow Center received an email requesting help for an individual from Uganda, now residing in Washington. We invited him to come by the RC so that we could talk with him and discover in what way we might be able to help.

Billy* came to the RC shortly after, this is his story.

I discovered I was gay at age 16. Because it is illegal to be gay in Uganda, for many years I hid this fact from all but a few other gay men in my village. One night about five years ago I was discovered in my home with two other gay men. Our attackers beat us with wood and metal, stabbed us, and sexually abused us. I was left for dead in a ditch – I do not know what happened to my friends. Through the help of a kind woman in my village, my injuries were treated and she helped me come to the US.

This was when I found the Rainbow Center. They have helped me change my life for the better. Ever since I visited this center I’ve never been the same — this is the only place I’ve felt so welcomed and free again.

With the assistance of the Rainbow Center I applied for asylum in the US, and my application has been approved. I now feel that my life is on track and I can think about the future again, now that the Rainbow Center has restored my hope.

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