I Didnโt Choose to Be a Refugee. I Chose to Survive as a Queer Person.
Being queer is not just an identity for me. It is the reason I had to leave home.
I come from Uganda. A place where being queer is not just judged, it is dangerous. I had to run because staying meant risking everything, my safety, my freedom, my life.
I thought leaving would mean peace.
But exile is not peace.
I passed through Kenya, and now I am in South Sudan. And still, the struggle continues. Still, I wake up every day not knowing what will come next. Still, I am trying to survive in a place that is not truly safe, not truly home.
When people talk about queer rights in the world, sometimes it sounds like progress is everywhere. But for many of us, that progress feels far away. It feels like something we watch from a distance while we are still living in fear, still struggling for basic things like food, shelter, and safety.
Queer suffering is not just headlines.
It is being forced to leave your family behind. It is losing everything you knew. It is asking for help and not knowing if anyone will respond. It is trying to stay alive in a world that keeps closing doors on you.
And the hardest part?
Sometimes people forget about us.
They celebrate Pride in one part of the world, while in another part, someone is hiding, running, or going hungry because they are queer.
I am still here.
Still trying. Still surviving. Still hoping that one day I will live a life where being queer is not something I have to suffer for.
Until then, this is my truth.
My name is Caitlin and I am organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Kavuma Abdallah, who reached out to me on social media. He is a gay Ugan
