An inclusive welcome
for LGBTQIA+ exiles
Many LGBTQIA+ individuals are forced to leave their home countries due to discrimination based on their gender identity or sexual orientation and seek protection in Belgium. Demandeureuses provides resources to support your work and help create a safer environment for them.
To better understand the realities faced by asylum seekers and those who work with them, we invite you to listen to the testimonials below by clicking on their photos.
JULIE
Julie
*Assumed name
Julie is a social worker at a center for unaccompanied minors. She tells us about her career path and her experience working with LGBTQIA+ individuals seeking international protection. She reflects on the times when she felt she was making a difference, and others when she felt powerless. Finally, she shares with us the changes she would like to see in the reception system and in the care provided to this community.
Learn more about:
LGBTQIA+, coming-out, transgender, lesbian, bisexual, homophobia.
Kira
Kira is from Benin; she is an LGBTQIA+ activist, an intersectional feminist, and Miss Trans Africa 2024. After facing a wave of online harassment, she sought international protection in Belgium. She shares her story with us, which spans activism, exile, and frustration with the bureaucracy. Today, she is a program coordinator and staff member at the JOC Namur.
*Transgender women living at Le Petit Chateau can now stay in another wing of the center where a shower is available to them
Learn more about :
Fedasil Center
This report from the Molenbeek reception center gives a voice to the staff members—Nour-Eddine, Catherine, and Marie—who share their experiences working with LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers. Having faced challenging situations, they are working to develop strategies to improve the support provided to these individuals.
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Amanda
*Assumed name
Amanda is from Cameroon. She arrived in Belgium a year ago and now lives in a reception center in Brussels, where she is training to become a nursing assistant. In this interview, she shares her story and talks about what has helped her feel more at home here.
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Hipolyte
Hypolite is the father of a 5-year-old girl. Originally from Cameroon, he arrived in Belgium a year ago. He talks to us about the challenges he faces in his daily life with his child in the reception centers, as well as the small gestures that have helped him feel more accepted.
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Luka
Luka is a young Georgian journalist who is openly queer and was forced to leave their country after new laws explicitly targeting the LGBTQIA+ community were enacted. Having arrived in Brussels this year, they share their story about the situation in their home country, their relationship with their gender identity, and the welcome they received upon arrival. They are currently volunteering at Le Petit Chateau.
En savoir plus sur :