African Rainbow Family was created, run and led by LGBTIQ refugees and people seeking asylum who face intersecting forms of discrimination and institutional injustice due to our race, sexuality, and gender identity. We organise to support each other as well as campaign for radical systemic change in the LGBTIQ asylum application processes. Since its inception in July 2014 ARF has developed into a national network of over 500 people with branches in Manchester, Birmingham, London and Leeds. In that time, we supported over 350 LGBTIQ people seeking asylum to get refugee status and the right to remain and live safely in the UK. Our work seeks to build a supportive community to address the immediate needs of LGBTIQ refugees and people seeking asylum, and to advocate for radical alternatives to discriminatory immigration controls in the UK.

We advance the education of the public in general about the issues relating to LGBTIQ people of African heritage and the wider BAMEs.These include LGBTIQ refugees and people seeking asylum.

ARF directly supports members in a number of ways, including training on how to write personal statements in support of their asylum claims and what types of evidence they need for their asylum applications, as well as signposting them to reputable solicitors with experience in LGBTIQ political asylum claims. We also write support letters as evidence of members’ belonging to the LGBTIQ community, and give oral evidence for them in their asylum court hearings.

We relieve unemployment amongst LGBTIQ refugees that have been granted status by providing vocational and skills training, and employment advice.

We protect the physical and mental health of our members through social activities, meetings, and conferences.

We relieve poverty amongst members by providing hot meals during meetings and reimburse transport fares to meetings and events. Members are also supported financially in detention centres with phone credit and basic needs. We liaise with members’ solicitors to press for release and we run anti-deportation campaigns for members who are comfortable with such.

1. All LGBT+ Communities
2. Bisexual Men
3. Bisexual Women
4. Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnicities
5. Gay Men
6. Intersex/Variations in Sex Characteristics (VSC)
7. Lesbians/Gay Women
8. Men
9. Women