Protecting queer and trans lives across borders

Content Warning: This interview includes personal accounts of homophobia and experiences of violence. Please listen with care and sensitivity.

It’s Pride Month, and while advocating for queer and trans rights is a year-round commitment, this June feels especially urgent. Countries once considered relatively safe—like the UK and the US—are rolling back protections and adopting increasingly hostile policies. 

And in many parts of the world, same-sex relationships are criminalized, people who defy gender norms face punishment, and simply living authentically can put someone’s life at risk.

An organization that works to protect queer and trans lives globally is Rainbow Railroad.  

In 2023 alone, Rainbow Railroad received more than 15,000 pleas for help from LGBTQI+ individuals facing life-threatening danger. While not everyone can be relocated, the organization works with global partners to get those at risk to safety.

This week on the show, we’re joined by: Devon Matthews, the head of programs at Rainbow Railroad to discuss the important work the organization is doing to support 2SLGBTQIA folks across the globe; and also Rahma Esslouani, a newcomer to Canada originally from Morocco.

Rainbow Railroad is a global not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk LGBTQI+ people get to safety worldwide. Based in the United States and Canada, they are an organization that helps LGBTQI+ people facing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. In a time when there are more displaced people than ever, LGBTQI+ people are uniquely vulnerable due to systemic, state-enabled homophobia and transphobia. These factors either displace them in their own country or prevent them from escaping harm.

About our guests 

Devon Matthews (she/they) is the Head of Programs at Rainbow Railroad, where they lead global initiatives to support LGBTQI+ individuals facing persecution. Since joining the organization in 2018, Devon has led the organization through numerous major international emergency responses, helping to deliver life-saving support to thousands of queer and trans people at risk. She holds a BA (Hons.) from Dalhousie University and an MA at the University of London under the Refugee Law Initiative.

Rahma Esslouani is a newcomer who relocated to Toronto, Canada, from Morocco via Turkey.

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