Rainbow Railroad

Rainbow Railroad
Founded2006
TypeNGO
  • Canada 827142530RR0001
  • United States 47-4896980
Legal statusCharitable organization
HeadquartersToronto, New York City
Websitewww.rainbowrailroad.org

Rainbow Railroad is a Canadian and U.S. charitable organization that helps lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other sexual minority/gender-nonconforming (LGBTQI+) individuals escape violence and persecution in their home countries. The organization was formed in 2006, with its name and concept inspired by the Underground Railroad that was used during the 19th century by enslaved African Americans to escape to free states and into Canada.[1]

Since its founding, Rainbow Railroad has assisted more than 18,000 individuals, including more than 2,000 persons supported through emergency relocation assistance. The organization is based in Toronto and New York City.

History

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Rainbow Railroad began in 2006 as a small, Toronto-based volunteer collective with the shared objective of assisting at-risk LGBTQI+ individuals facing violence and persecution find refuge in safer regions globally.

Effecting resettlements on a case-by-case basis out of Jamaica, Nigeria, and Uganda in its earliest days, the organization enjoyed gradually increasing attention, financial backing, and professionalization. It received charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency in 2013,[2] hired Executive Director Justin Taylor as its first full-time staffer in 2014, and achieved 501(c)(3) charity organization status in the United States in 2015. Upon its 10th anniversary, in 2016 the Winnipeg-based Upside Down Tree Foundation gifted the organization with a transformational $400,000 grant. The gift provided critical funding to a three-year Strategic Plan under which the organization's leadership would prioritize increasing capacity, broadening Rainbow Railroad's service mix, and extending its reach to previously unserviced areas of the world. The same year, Kimahli Powell was tapped to join the organization as Taylor's successor.

After revelations in 2017 about anti-gay purges and concentration camps in Chechnya (and on a smaller scale in neighboring Ingushetia and Dagestan), Rainbow Railroad mobilized the emergency evacuation of approximately 70 Chechen men to safer countries in collaboration with the Russian LGBT Network.[3][4][5] The resettlement, then the largest intervention in Rainbow Railroad's history, featured prominently both in a May 2019 instalment of the American television news magazine show 60 Minutes and in a Time magazine feature the same year.[6] The appearances served to bolster the organization's international profile.

After the August 2021 fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban regime, Rainbow Railroad raised concerns about the situation for LGBTQI+ people living in the country.[7] Between August 2021 and June 2022, Rainbow Railroad helped to resettle 247 LGBTQI+ Afghans in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.[8]

Recognition

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Rainbow Railroad received the 2018 Bonham Centre Award from the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto for its work helping LGBT refugees.[9]

In 2020, the organization's work was highlighted in an episode of Canada's Drag Race. During the eighth episode of the season, which aired on August 20, five gay men who had moved to Canada through the organization were given drag makeovers as the main challenge for the week.[10] The winner of this challenge, Priyanka, won a $10,000 donation to Rainbow Railroad in her name.[10]

In 2021, Rainbow Railroad was recognized with the GAY TIMES Honour for International Community Trailblazer at the fifth annual GAY TIMES Honours celebration in London. The award was presented by LGBTQI+ and human rights activist Blair Imani.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Manglone, Kendra (18 June 2015). "'Rainbow Railroad': Toronto charity helping LGBT people escape violence". Toronto: CTV. Archived from the original on 17 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  2. ^ Taylor, Jillian (2 December 2016). "Syrian man arrives in Canada thanks to the Rainbow Railroad". CBC. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  3. ^ Lamont, Will (18 April 2017). "Rainbow Railroad Announces Emergency Response Plan for LGBTQ People at Risk in Chechnya - urgently requests Canadian Government assistance". CNW Group Ltd. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  4. ^ Avery, Dan (20 April 2017). "An LGBT "Underground Railroad" Is Working To Evacuate Gay Men From Chechnya". NewNowNext. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Canada Secretly Sneaks LGBT Russians Out Of Chechnya". All Things Considered. NPR. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  6. ^ Steinmetz, Katy (26 July 2019). "Victim of Chechnya's Anti-Gay Purge Speaks Out: 'The Truth Exists'". Time. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Rainbow Railroad - Statement on the Situation of LGBTQI People in Afghanistan". www.rainbowrailroad.org. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  8. ^ "How Canada is failing LGBTQ+ Afghan refugees". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Bonham Centre Awards Gala 2018". Archived from the original on 1 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b Daniel Reynolds, "Canada's Drag Race Makes Over LGBTQ+ Refugees in Unforgettable Episode" Archived 23 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine. The Advocate, August 21, 2020.
  11. ^ "Rainbow Railroad wins International Community Trailblazer at GAY TIMES Honours 2021". GAY TIMES. 19 November 2021. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
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