Thanks to you, me, us!

As the year draws to a close, it is time to thank our supporters, especially our volunteer legal counsel and Queer Base Buddies. Without your donations and your time, we could not make this desire for freedom a reality.

I can sleep at night thanks to you!

Sleepless nights due to fear for one’s own safety should not exist in Austria. Safe accommodations are a key to better mental health and should be out of the question. Queer refugees – among other vulnerable groups on the run – are particularly at risk and need accommodations where their sexual orientation or gender identity is not in question. Only then will there be fair access to the asylum process.
With Queer Base and your help, we are creating this basis, e.g. with new possibilities in early detection and closer cooperation with federal accommodations.

Thanks to you, me, us! We are in this together!

Give us a rest and support Queer Refugees: https://friends.queerbase.at/donate/

 

Musik: “Desire for Freedom” by Lexin Music

I am not alone at the authorities thanks to you!

Going to the police alone and coming out as trans*? Sit alone in front of an officer and have to tell her everything about your sexuality? Certainly not! The legal counseling of Queer Base accompanies queer refugees when they apply for asylum at the police and goes with them to their interview in the first instance. And prepares them intensively in many hours for these difficult situations. This is not a given. Because they have to go to authorities on their own, since the right to representation only begins with a negative decision and a hearing in court. However, we do not wait for a negative decision, but fight with the refugees for their right to asylum from the very beginning. With overwhelming success: our statistics over the past years clearly show that refugees who are represented by us already in the first instance are more often than average granted asylum right away. This means a shorter asylum procedure, less stress and an easier arrival in a new, safe life. This year, the positive decision was once even printed out during the interview and immediately given to the gay man from Uganda! In total, about 40 people have been granted asylum in the first instance and about 30 in the second instance. Queer Base’s legal services are independent, but totally LGBTIQ+ biased, and they are 100% donor-funded. You can help so that we can continue to do great work in 2023 and no one sits alone in an interview room!

I can sleep at night thanks to you!

Again, refugees are put in a miserable situation for no reason, they are sent across Austria to addresses where they are turned away. Then, when they return, they are faced with closed doors. LGBTIQ refugees – as well as other vulnerable refugees – are particularly often exposed to assaults. With these “forms” of accommodation, the dangerous flight in Austria is still not over.
Not only have we worked in recent years with training and public relations to sensitize employees in the asylum sector to enable rapid early detection, but we have also demanded corresponding consistent standards for further care. In 2022, in cooperation with the federal institutions, we have developed a process flow that makes it possible to carry out a transfer to basic care Vienna and thus to specialized LGBTIQ housing without detours.

I can find my words thanks to me!

In 2022, we held the training “Interpreting without discomfort” for the first time together with Translation Science Vienna, UNHCR and VHS Vienna. It was a great success and over 75 people participated. Many queer refugees are afraid of homophobic and transphobic translations, afraid that language will be used that will hurt them again. Interpreters are the mouthpieces of LGBTIQ refugees in the asylum process, they have a key function and they need to know about specific expressions, they need to be informed about the problems of talking about sexuality or gender identity and deal with it accordingly professionally. The Queer Base has had its own pool of queer interpreters since the beginning, most of whom have had refugee experience themselves. For them it is especially important to be able to think about the questions of demarcation in the counseling setting; here, too, there were offers in 2022.

I can find my words thanks to me!

Language comes with security, but who enjoys security in Austria? Many queer refugees are afraid to talk about their situation, afraid of people in uniforms, but also especially afraid of interpreters. Together we encourage LGBTIQ Refugees to find their words, their personal expression for their struggle. And we work on sensitizing interpreters for an interview without discomfort, e.g. with trainings together with Translation Science, UNHCR and VHS Vienna.

Thanks to you, me, us! We are in this together!

Listen to me and support Queer Refugees: Spenden

Musik by LesFem

I have another chance thanks to you!

This year, the Constitutional Court decided 5 cases of queer refugees at once and proved them all right! This means that their case, which was actually already decided negatively, is open again and goes back to the Federal Administrative Court.
And this is important for our whole LGBTIQ+ community, because every time the Constitutional Court affirms our rights: Courts are not allowed, for example, to demand that someone hides their queerness just to be safe from trans- and homophobic violence – because we are allowed to be the way we want to be, and if someone gets in danger in their home country because of that, then that person needs international protection! Is actually clear. But the Constitutional Court had to deal with this question several times this year. Conservative judges (they are all cis-men) like to argue with moral concepts, to which also straight people in the country of origin would have to bow, or with the fact that homosexuality belongs to the private sphere – in order to send someone back to his home country where sometimes prison sentences are imposed. Not with us! And not with the VfGH!

And at the moment there are some other exciting cases before the Supreme Court: the case of a trans person from Russia or a gay human rights activist from Colombia for example.

Many thanks at this point to the great “Netzwerk Asylanwalt” and the many great female lawyers with whom we fight for progressive justice for all of us!

Sometimes it has to go fast and we just take over the costs of the proceedings. This is only possible with donations! Please support us so that we can continue to bring difficult cases to the highest courts in 2023. Donate

I can be out thanks to us!

Not being alone and feeling a sense of belonging is a basic need for all of us. For the Queer Base community, one of the most important goals is to bring LGBTIQ refugees out of their involuntary isolation. The Queer Base Café, now back every Thursday, is one of those places to become a tender, loving and caring community that we all desperately need. We know the words “Mental Health” and “Resilience” all too well, together we find ways to experience our own lives worth living, piece by piece, overcoming stigma and shame together and living “Queer Joy” and “Pride” to the fullest. We are family and for us and all of us we wish the strength to find our own humanity in the eyes of the other.

Thank you to all Queer Base Buddies, who take care of the Queer Base Café – 46 times it took place in 2022, thank you to all workshop leaders, swimming and yoga instructors. With your donation all this is possible…

I can be out thanks to us!

Finally feeling the joy of your own body without having to hide. For many, the LGBTIQ community is for the first time a place to feel accepted for who you are. We all have a special responsibility in how we deal with our different experiences. At Queer Base, we as a community want to share and increase our joy, but also develop an attentiveness to breaking points. The Queer Base creates spaces together with the buddies in the Queer Base Café, swimming and yoga instructors, German courses and soccer sessions and workshops that make it possible to participate more and more in a good life.

Thanks to you, me, us! We are in this together!
Let’s celebrate our lives and support Queer Refugees: Donate

Music: “Happy Dance” by Alex MakeMusic

This post is also available in: Deutsch (German)