ORAM

Earlier this month, the Q***r Forced Displacement Network (QFDN) officially launched in Bangkok through Rainbow Railroad’s Q***r Forced Displacement Initiative.

The launch followed nearly two years of global consultations. ORAM co-organized the Kenya consultation in October 2025 and participated in the Mexico City consultation, bringing regional perspectives into the network’s development.

At the QFDN launch, ORAM’s East Africa Program Manager, Winfred Wangari, spoke on a panel and shared insights from Kenya on the need for community-led, coordinated action led by displaced LGBTIQ people themselves.

“The findings showed Kenya as a place of both safety and contradiction: a place where people fleeing SOGIESC-related persecution seek protection, only to encounter new forms of persecution, invisibility, and exclusion,” Winfred shared.

These insights show why networks like QFDN are critical: LGBTIQ refugees face violence and exclusion across systems that too often fail to recognize or respond to their realities.

Read Winfred and Steve Roth’s reflections on QFDN, further insights from the Kenya consultation, and how ORAM can support the network here: https://www.oramrefugee.org/post/q-a-oram-s-insights-on-the-q***r-forced-displacement-network

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