Take action!​

Rainbow Welcome! is implemented by five partner organisations but every stakeholder, including you, has a key role to play. So, join the effort and… take action!

Do you also want to express your support for LGBTIQ+ refugees and fight against the discrimination they face?

Share the campaign using the #RainboWelcome hashtag on social media. In this way, you will help to raise awareness of the realities faced by LGBTIQ+ refugees in Europe!

Do you have the power to change things?

Check out our policy paper, it is full of concrete recommendations addressed to the European institutions, member states and reception centres to improve the conditions for LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers and refugees in Europe.

Download the posters

Emelyne

“One of the first requests here is for a cocoon, a space to call your own.”

Emmanuel

“It is necessary to develop reception and accommodation facilities for LGBTIQ+ exiles in order to provide them with inclusive, caring and safe spaces. The multiplication of these centres across France will facilitate their asylum application process and their integration.”

Huguette

“When I was made visible, I had to leave everything, I was threatened with death.”

Juan

I left my home country because of discrimination and harassment by the police. Casa+ is the second community experience in Italy for me; before that, I was in another shelter, in which I have been mistreated by other beneficiaries.

Adil

“The procedure can take 2, 3 or even 5 years sometimes. During this time we live in stress and fear.”

Joana

“I grew up in an environment of hatred, I was surrounded by hatred.”

Judit

“LGBTIQ+ people have specific needs that are invisible because of the cissexism present in the reception system.”

Filomena

Casa+ users are extremely vulnerable and fragile people; understanding their needs means listening to them and giving them support, as well as a dignity often denied to them because of repeated episodes of discrimination and isolation.

Yury

When I escaped from Ukraine, I went first to Poland and then to Italy, where I sought political asylum. In one of the shelters I was before I came to Casa+, I felt very lonely.

Hzani

“I was rejected by my family because I am trans. All my life I have been abused and institutions have never protected me.”

Rajae

“Being a lesbian in Morocco is so taboo that people wonder if it really exists.”

Sara

“Take the time to learn about LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers’ specific needs.”

Arsène

“We need LGBTIQ+ associations in the reception centres. I didn’t have that.”

Claudia

“Trans people are vulnerable in a system that does not have a gender perspective adequate to their needs.”

Antonio

In many societies, LGBTQIA+ people are victims of severe human rights violations, violence, torture and aggression. The need is to rebuild self-confidence, trust in authorities and institutions, and to make people aware of their identity and proud of themselves.

Rodrigo

“The social network, the basis of inclusion, is built primarily on leisure.”

Jean-Loïc

“My partner was lynched by the crowd. Neither the police nor the justice system protected me. I had to flee my country to stay alive.”

Zein

“We come here to have peace and to live our lives as human beings.”

Jade

“Being visible can serve to liberate me and tell what I want to tell a society that believes there is no transphobia.”

Do you want to get even more involved?

Then share and act in favour of the diversity of gender identities, gender expressions and sexual orientations, and highlight the richness of such diversity in society. Simply become an ally!

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Rainbow Welcome! visual universe

Rainbow Welcome! visual identity has been developed by Alison Roger France, in collaboration with PLS and all the partners. 

She studied the complexity of sexuality, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, identities, sexual characteristics, fluidity between the various spectrums, etc. She also adopted a reflective creation process including refugees’ journey in life and on earth to finally come with those organic forms whose nasting, movements and textures aim at illustrating the multiplicity and complexity of each and all individuals. Of course, the colours of the LGBTIQ+ flag have been used. The whole is wanted to be dynamic, intriguing and … positive. Our message is the one of reception and inclusion, as stated in our motto “Rainbow refugees, WELCOME!”.