Dear Friends,

Thank you for supporting Rainbow World Fund's humanitarian and peacemaking mission. In this issue:

• 250 Endangered LGBTQ+ Refugees Reach Safety
• The Hope in the Darkness
• "Kill the Gays" Law Challenged - Help LGBTQ+ Ugandans
• Celebrate Pride in Cuba May 16-26, 2024
• Add your wish to the RWF World Tree of Hope

LGBTQ+ People generally have limited or highly restrictive rights in most parts of the Middle East are open to hostility in others. Sex between men is illegal in 9 of the 18 countries that make up the region. It is punishable by death in five of these 18 countries. The rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ citizens are strongly influenced by the prevailing cultural traditions and religious mores of people living in the region – particularly Islam.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban took over in 2021 after the previous government collapsed. Under their rule, LGBTQ+ recognition is against Islamic (Sharia) law and homosexuals are to be punished by death. Unlike the previous republic government, the Taliban have openly, either directly or indirectly, tortured and killed LGBTQ+ members.

For over a decade, RWF has provided emergency assistance (case management, funding for travel documents, transportation including airplane fare, food, basic needs, medical care, and housing) to LGBTQ+ refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq who have faced imminent threats in their homelands. RWF has ensured safe passage to hundreds of endangered LGBTQ+ people to reach safety where they can connect with the supportive community and begin the asylum process. 

We are thrilled to announce that in the past year alone RWF has helped 100 LGBTQ+ refugees and their family member reach safety in the Canada, Germany, and the USA. We also have evacuated 150 people to other countries who are waiting for final approval to move to western countries and begin the asylum process and path to citizenship.

Please help make 2024 a brighter year for those who need our help most by donating today. Put your gift to work immediately by donating online. Your gift will help RWF promote peace, unity and hope while increasing LGBTQ+ visibility, changing how the world sees LGBTQ+ people by building bridges with the larger world community.

The holiday season brings reflection. We’re glad to say that as we reflect this year, in a moment where difficulties and conflicts seem to loom wherever you look, Rainbow World Fund sees hope.

Rainbow World Fund sees hope because you care. For 23 years, LGBTQ+ donors and their allies have looked beyond the borders of city, state, and nation, seen those in need, and stepped in to help. Rainbow World Fund donors are people of compassion, but they know compassion without action is empty. They want to make a difference.

Rainbow World Fund sees hope because a little sometimes matters a lot. Whether it’s clean water in a mountain village, a hot meal for impoverished elders in a Mayan town, or donated clothing for the trans community in a Central American capital, what seems to us like a small outlay can make a world of difference.

Rainbow World Fund sees hope because so many times, the people we fund can take your assistance and run with it. A young woman in a village where no one graduated high school before now attends university to study accounting. A wheelchair factory built from the ground up and staffed by wheelchair users takes pride in the wheelchair basketball court they recently constructed and plans a new paint shop to expand operations. 

Rainbow World Fund sees hope because we know the human spirit, compassionate and generous, is resilient, even irrepressible. People, including Rainbow World Fund donors, naturally care and want to help. Your donations allow us to fulfill Rainbow World Fund’s mission — to build world peace, unity, and hope by helping those in need while increasing the positive visibility of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Donate now to keep the hope and healing going in 2024. 

Last week, Uganda’s Constitutional Court began to hear arguments on "The Kill the Gays Law". Click here to learn more about the law, how it came to be, and it’s impact.

“The Convening For Equality welcomes the expediency of the Judiciary in hearing the challenge. After so much violence and devastation brought about by this wrong-headed law, we are grateful that this day has finally come for the justices to hear the many ways the Anti-Homosexuality Act blatantly violates Uganda’s constitution,” said Frank Mugisha, of Sexual Minorities Uganda, and Convening For Equality (CFE) Co-convener. “It should have no place in Uganda’s law books.”

Arguments will center on the ways in which the law violates substantive rights to equality, dignity, privacy, freedom of speech, association and health as well as freedom from discrimination. Lawyers challenging the law will also argue that the parliamentary process lacked the opportunity for meaningful or adequate public participation as required by the constitution, among other procedural issues.

“The evidence of the discrimination and violence that has been wrought by government employees and private citizens since the law came into force is overwhelming,” said Clare Byarugaba, of Chapter Four Uganda and Convening For Equality (CFE) Co-convener “It cannot and should not be allowed to stand. Nullification of this law is the only way forward.”

Much of Uganda society has turned its back on the LGBTQ+ community. The challenge to the Anti-Homosexuality Act is sure to further increase the risk for the LGBTQ+ community. Please join RWF as we help our Ugandan brother and sisters. RWF is sending funds to Uganda to provide for emergency shelter, food, medical care, travel support, and legal aid.

Experience Cuba: May 16-26, 2024 - Learn about Cuban history from its colonial past to its revolutionary present and how the complex historical relationship between the U.S and Cuba remains ever-changing. March in the LGBTQ+ Pride parade (Conga) in Havana! Learn more here.

Be a part of this unique symbol of global unity! It's not too late to add your wish to the tree. Throughout December we will be adding wishes to the 18th annual RWF World Tree of Hope at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. All of the origami cranes on the tree are inscribed with wishes, hopes, and prayers for the future. Please add your wish to the tree, it'll be printed, folded into a crane, and placed on the tree. Adding a wish is FREE and open to all. 

The tree is RWF's gift to the world and reflects our philosophy of building bridges and sharing the message that we are all one human family.

RWF is the world's first and only all-volunteer, LGBTQ- based humanitarian aid organization. Our mission is to promote peace, unity, and hope by leading the LGBTQ movement in participating in humanitarian relief efforts. RWF has donated over $6 million of life-saving aid and 85,000 of volunteer service hours.

Bring new hope to our friends and family around the world. Put your tax-deductible gift to work immediately by donating online or mail your donation to Rainbow World Fund, 4111 - 18th Street #5, San Francisco, CA 94114.