Profile picture
Human Rights Campaign @HRC
, 19 tweets, 22 min read Read on Twitter
Hi, this is @Kimahli Powell. I’m the executive director of @RainbowRailroad, a Canadian-based international organization that helps #LGBTQ individuals facing persecution escape to safety. I’m doing an #HRCTwitterTakeover today to mark #WorldRefugeeDay. Kimahli Powell, Executive Director of Rainbow Railroad
In the spirit of and with homage to the Underground Railroad, the mission of the @RainbowRailroad is to help #LGBTQ people as they seek safe haven from violence, murder or persecution. — @Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover rainbowrailroad.ca Rainbow Railroad
Let’s start with 3 terms:
⚫Migrant: Anyone who chooses to leave their country of origin;
⚫Asylum seeker: Anyone seeking international protection;
⚫Refugee: An official designation for individuals forced to flee their country of origin.
—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover
Our work at @RainbowRailroad includes helping these individuals locate safe houses in their home countries, providing funds to individuals in hiding, creating travel arrangements and counselling for people looking to flee their homes. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover
🚨Here’s the international situation: More than 70 countries around the world criminalize consensual same-sex intimacy. In just over half a dozen of those countries, same-sex intimacy is punishable with the death penalty. 🚨
—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover Criminalization Around the World
In Sept. 2017, at least 6 men were arrested for “promoting sexual deviancy” after waving a pride flag at a concert in Cairo. These arrests have led to a crackdown on the #LGBTQ community across Egypt. 🇪🇬 —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay
npr.org/2018/06/18/620…
Since then dozens of #LGBTQ people were arrested & held without charge. Members of Egypt’s parliament have proposed legislation to explicitly criminalize same-sex relations and even showing support for the community in any way.
—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay Cairo concert
In early 2017 the world cried out when reports broke from Chechnya describing abductions, detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and deaths targeting more than 200 men suspected of being gay or bisexual.—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay hrw.org/news/2017/09/0…
Earlier this month, I was honored to join @HRC and a Chechen refugee in DC for meetings with the @WhiteHouse and @StateDept to address the urgent need to open the US border to survivors of these atrocities. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay hrc.org/blog/chechen-r…
The Chechen refugee shared his story of being kidnapped from work, tortured in an abandoned building for weeks and forced to provide names of other gay men. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay
hrc.org/blog/world-ref… #EyesOnChechnya
Last year we received more than 1,100 requests looking for help. Of those we resettled more than 200 people. Our work is about assessing the situation and determining where there are individuals at immediate risk who choose to leave. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay Arrivals by country of origin
#LGBTQ refugees are particularly vulnerable to violence and abuse. Individuals are often referred to us by a local groups on the ground, like @EqualityJa in the Caribbean. Others find us on social media and reach out to us directly.
—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay Demonstrators
Some countries are more tricky to navigate because we haven’t yet identified routes to safety. Most of the people we assist end up in Western Europe. About 15% of the #LGBTQ folks we work with end up in Canada.—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay
hrw.org/news/2017/09/0…
A large part of what allowed intervention in Chechnya was the worldwide outrage. I want to see that same concern about the many other countries where LGBTQ people face persecution, like Indonesia, Tanzania, Turkey and too many more. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay Protestor of Chechnya Violence
The work @RainbowRailroad does is like a triage. We can lead people to a place that’s safe, let them know what to do when they land and give them organizations that are safe in the country that they arrive to. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay
salon.com/2017/05/01/fro…
It’s vital that asylum seekers have support networks wherever they are resettled. These individuals are young, bright & full of potential, but they’re still getting used to understanding that they're safe & they can start a new life. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay Toronto demonstration for Chechnya
While Canada has taken an international leadership role, it’s up to each of us to pitch in and keep pushing our governments to do more to help the most vulnerable among us. Canada has more work to do as well.
—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay dailyxtra.com/what-can-you-d…
The Trump-Pence administration has cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. by half--and admitted even less. It is critical that governments adequately resettle refugees while recognizing the specific needs of #LGBTQ people.
—@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay
It's fitting that #WorldRefugeeDay falls during #PrideMonth. #LGBTQ asylum seekers are often forced to flee their home, family & country because of who they are and who they love. @RainbowRailroad is proud to work with @HRC to lift up these stories. —@Kimahli #HRCTwitterTakeover Rainbow Railroad in Washington D.C.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Human Rights Campaign
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Related hashtags

#LGBTQ #HRCTwitterTakeover #WorldRefugeeDay #PrideMonth

More from @HRC see all

Profile picture
1/ 2018 was a year of progress in banning the abusive practice known as “conversion therapy.”

As we start 2019, 15 states plus DC protect LGBTQ youth from this form of child abuse.
2/ Despite national, bipartisan support to end this practice, 𝟴 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 in 2018 actually cast a vote in support of “conversion therapy."

@HRC, our members and supporters mobilized to defeat these dangerous candidates at the ballot box. 🗳🗳
3/ In 2018, 6 of those candidates were defeated:

✅ @MikeLevinCA ousted Diane Harkey
✅ @TJCoxCongress ousted David Valadao
✅ @KatiePorterOC ousted Mimi Walters
✅ @KatieHill4CA ousted Steve Knight
✅ @MikieSherrill ousted Jay Webber
✅ @XochforCongress ousted Yvette Herrell
Read 6 tweets
Profile picture
1/🚨Mike Pence is on a voter suppression tour this week.

He's stumping alongside Brian Kemp in Georgia, who's being sued for purging 700K voters from the rolls.

Tomorrow, he campaigns in Kansas for Kris Kobach, with whom he led Trump’s discriminatory “Voter Fraud” commission.
2/ In Georgia, civil rights groups are suing gubernatorial candidate @BrianKempGA for enforcing the state’s discriminatory “exact match” requirement — impacting mostly Black voters ahead of the midterms. cnn.com/2018/10/12/pol…
3/ In 2017, @mike_pence & @KrisKobach1787 lead a committee to prove @realDonaldTrump’s claim that millions of Black & Latino voters casted ballots illegally in the 2016 election.

Facing multiple lawsuits & no real evidence of fraud, the group disbanded.
hrc.org/blog/hrc-respo…
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
1/ Happy International Pronouns Day!

She/Her/Hers.

He/Him/His.

They/Them/Theirs.

Calling people by the correct pronouns matters. #pronounsday
2/ Some simple steps to honor people's pronouns in the workplace:
✔️Ask about pronouns before assuming
✔️Take care to use a person’s correct pronouns
✔️Remove gendered signs from single-use restrooms
✔️Provide gender-inclusive options on hiring forms
#pronounsday
3/ At schools:
➡️Honor the names and pronouns that a student uses.
➡️Create a gender-inclusive dress code.
@HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools has tips for educators & administrators on how to make classrooms more inclusive of all identities. #pronounsday welcomingschools.org/pages/gender-a…
Read 7 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
<Thread>
1/ "A 2015 report by SmallArmsSurvey, a Switzerland-based research group, showed that the free flow of high-powered rifles & other weapons in Africa has significantly increased the scale of poaching. In turn, that has bolstered the illicit arms trade." (more) @ArleBear🐾
2/ High-powered rifles "have had a disastrous effect — the latest factor in the precipitous decline in the worldwide rhino population from 500,000 in the early 20th century to fewer than 30,000 today, with the vast majority in South Africa." (more...)
3/ "Protrack, a private anti-poaching company, began finding the CZ [CZ-USA] rifles near rhino carcasses as early as 2011. 'We didn’t see this level of poaching until these high-powered rifles were introduced into the system,' said Vincent Barkas, Protrack’s owner." (more...)
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
🏳️‍🌈TODAY’S PRIDE HERO🏳️‍🌈
Harvey Milk (1930 – 1978)

Visionary #LGBTQ, civil, and human rights leader. One of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S.

His life was tragically cut short when he was assassinated nearly one year after taking office.

#LGBTVoices
Harvey was born May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, NY. Harvey and his only sibling, Robert, worked in the family’s department store, “Milks.” They were a small middle-class Jewish family that had founded a Jewish synagogue and was well known in their community for their civic engagement.
Milk knew he was gay while attending high school, where he was a popular student w/ interests from opera to football.

While in college, Milk penned a weekly student newspaper column where he questioned issues of diversity and lessons learned from the recently ended World War.
Read 14 tweets
Profile picture
🏳️‍🌈TODAY’S PRIDE HERO🏳️‍🌈
Daniel Keenan Savage
(b. October 7, 1964)

Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, newspaper editor, national sex advice columnist(Savage Love), and activist for the #LGBTQ community.

#LGBTVoices
#PrideMonth
Dan Savage was born in Chicago, IL. He was raised Roman Catholic & attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary North. He has said he’s "a wishy-washy agnostic" and an atheist, & still identifies as "culturally Catholic." He holds a BFA from the University of IL at Urbana-Champaign.
Savage was living in Madison, WI when a friend, Tim Keck who co-founded The Onion, mentioned that he was moving to Seattle to launch a new alt newspaper, @TheStranger.

Savage made a comment that every newspaper should have an advice column— he was hired to write one: Savage Love
Read 14 tweets
Profile picture
Hi everyone thank you for all your support and empathy in the past few days.
To minimize further injuries, the original voicemail with the intended subject's name has been removed, but I am reposting here with name obscured: soundcloud.com/user-251012259… (thanks for tech help!)
I am also reposting my entire Twitter message regarding this incident, with other important ideas I forgot to include:
four days ago my work phone got a rambling but confrontational 3.5 min voicemail from someone questioning my legitimacy to teach based on my presumed #citizenship and #ethnic identity. You can hear the actual message here: soundcloud.com/user-251012259…
Read 15 tweets
Profile picture
"What parasitic worms in defector reveal about conditions in North Korea:
A 2015 study of 169 defectors by Dankook University College of Medicine in South Korea found that out of the 17 female subjects who provided stool samples, seven had parasites."
cnn.com/2017/11/22/hea…
"Choi Min-ho, a professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine who specializes in parasites, told CNN the use of human fertilizer on crops and poor sanitary conditions led to the transmission of parasitic cysts in North Korea." -@CNN
"One in ten of the total subjects were also discovered to have hepatitis B." - CNN
Read 13 tweets
Profile picture
On 29 April 2015 at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, @HillaryClinton delivered the first policy paper of her campaign for the Democratic nomination. It was called "Race and Criminal Justice" and it was not only impressive, it was brilliant. 1/
By that time I knew Hillary Clinton. I mean I had come to understand how she thought about policy & how she viewed this second run.

She was sending a clear signal that day that most ignored or were simply unwilling acknowledge.

This was why she was running for President. 2/
In that speech she said things that no other major politician had had the guts to say. As many pointed she said things that President Obama wasn't able to say.

It was a courageous way to start her campaign. For a woman accused of always playing it safe this was her hell no. 3/
Read 57 tweets

Trending hashtags

#QTeam #Russia #gunreform #PeerReview #teach #LGBTQ #ideals #MLKDay2018 #unga2018 #USA #Newsbud #mm #research #RxJS #Team45 #humantrafficking #ROGD #LGBTVoices #IWD2018 #OperationGladio #WMD #FlipItFemale #Consulate #Soros #Rogue

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!