Safe Haven

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The Border between Nogales, Mexico and Nogales, Arizona

Two years ago, a "rainbow-caravan" gay men and Trans -women from Central America and Mexico came to the United States to seek refuge. This is the story of her journey - and what happens next.

Nogales, Mexico: August 10, 2017"Are you ready?" The Voice says behind the smartphone, the pans along a queue.

Six gay men and 11 transgender women are standing together in single file, clutching their papers. Only a few meters in front of the revolving door grilled gates of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Each member of The Group is nervous, and everyone has dressed for the occasion. One of the Trans women, in a Lacy white dress and diamanté Tiara , take a deep breath and looks up at the ceiling. One of the gay men, wearing checked shirt and smart black pants with bleached blonde hair with Gel in Position, taking a worried glance at the guard standing behind them.

Together, they formed a caravan, an informal group of People traveling together, for safety as common hazards in the Central is for People on the run-America. One of them is the "first Rainbow-caravan", as she has him fired.

This side of the gate in Nogales, Mexico. The Other is located in Nogales, Arizona. The two Nogales, as they are called, are United "by love," according to The Local motto, but The Rainbow caravan is not to expect a warm welcome.

in The Group of Joselyn, a Trans woman from Nicaragua, and Jerson is a gay man in his twenties from Honduras.

The camera cuts as you Step out into the unknown.

Jerson history Jerson grew up in Honduras, the industry in the second largest city of San Pedro Sula. In 2015, it was known as the murder capital of The World .

Here, he lived a Double Life . He had a circle of gay Friends , but they had to meet in safe houses. If he saw one of them in public, he has to pretend, he would she did not know.

When you Work in the sales Department of a pharmaceutical Company - he made sure that his sexuality a secret.

Then, One Day , he was called for a routine medical check-up. The Doctor asked for a list of the conventional tick-box questions. But then he asked: "do you like men or women?"

The question surprised Jerson. He was not sure why The Doctor needed to know, but he felt he had to answer His Best interests at heart, so Jerson the courage, frankly, for one of The First times in his life. "Men. "

Ten minutes after leaving The Room , he got a call from Human Resources . They fired at him. For Jerson, The Connection was clear. "I thought, I'll never, never tell someone I'm gay again. "

not Losing that job was the determining factor, you are leaving The County , but the surrounding area was to be feared.

Jerson, had the family a long time, which is the target of a gang for extortion. His father and his brother had already been killed. If his sexuality was known, he thought, he was even rather more.

The characters Lempira neighbourhood in San Pedro Sula where a gang once gave residents 24 hours to Get Out of the area, "Join us or die" is heard, a typical threat of gangs in Honduras and neighboring El Salvador . Many Young Men are involuntarily recruited by and for gay men, this process is frightening can be even more difficult.

"are The maras [gangs] codes of conduct very macho," says Adeline Neau, of the has led to Amnesty International reporting on LGBT issues in the region. "Gay men can be abused, for not being 'Real Men ', or the leader could say that they don't want you in their territory, because they do not compliance with the traditional rules of the society. "

According to information provided by Cattrachas compiled by Honduran NGO, 264 LGBT People were murdered and the country between 2009 and 2017. In most cases, those responsible were never held accountable.

It was in December 2015, when Jerson to leave, he had decided. In the US, the target was not at this point; he thought he could build a new life in Mexico.

But first he had to be in a safe places to stay on the trip, and this was especially hard, in other countries in which homophobia was also widely used. He came to happiness is just over The Border to Guatemala, southern Mexico, in a shelter called " La 72.

In the year 2016, La 72 two residential homes opened especially for LGBT residents, simple room with six beds, in addition to The General sleeping room.

"We have noticed a growing number of LGBT immigrants," says Director Ramon Marquez. It was unclear why, he adds. Maybe the People had just, more, than, La 72, was known for offering support and safety.

La 72 checks offers migrants ' physical and Mental Health , The Shelter is in the riverside town of Tenosique, in Tabasco state. These borderlands have long been a danger for migrants, since they are the bottlenecks of People , to find those criminals try to vulnerable targets.

"What we do is only a first Step ," says Ramón. "A few other places open, but what is even more important, the mind is also open. "

sometime in the future, the participants in The Rainbow caravan, including Jerson, managed, funds to travel together next trip from La 72 with the bus. Others had their opportunities on La Bestia, or the beast, The notoriously dangerous train that passes through Tabasco state is on the way to the US border.

Although The Rainbow -caravan has not been made complete the form at La 72, one of the critical links. Different members of it remained in different times, the formation of a network of wider friendships, which would eventually bring them together.

Joselyn history Joselyn was threatened, eight as a group of older, throw them in a volcano.

she was born in an indigenous tribe, the autonomously ruled Corn Island , 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Nicaragua's coast. Life there was still more traditional than the very conservative mainland.

realizes she is being chased by The Other islanders because of the way they dressed and acted.

move to the mainland, offered no respite. In the school in the Western City of León, she was bullied again and again. She was sexually abused, on the street. And yet, when they sought the help of the school, teachers or The Police , she says she was not taken seriously.

she says The Last straw came at the age of 17, when she witnessed the murder of a Trans -girlfriend. Out of fear of the perpetrator would come for her next, that they fled. "What else could I do?" she says. "The Police would not listen. You will never have a message. I felt like I was no one. "

A decade passed before finally one of The First participants, The Rainbow caravan. The idea was raised in an apartment in Mexico City , where various ex-residents of La 72 were housed.

Joselyn was initially far from keen. "I didn't feel like I have to put The Spirit ," she says. Mexico was not a Safe Haven either - she was kidnapped and sex trafficked in Jalisco state.

The Others in The Group flocked around her. She started to get in contact with other LGBT Friends , and vague Contacts ask you if you wanted to join. It was only on The Overland journey to this point, it was about solidarity and support in the compilation of their asylum cases, if you reached the limit.

"los machistas Que tiembla!" (Let the chauvinists are shaking. ) This is what the caravan sung, with their fists in the air when they arrived in Nogales In July 2017.

The Group was now fully formed. There are 16 members, plus were another gay man, in The Last minute, the man command with The Group parading through The Streets .

The caravan wanted to be seen. They knew that if they crossed The Border , she would be a nine-digit number in a deportation camp and The Treatment hard would be. You want to radar on the NGO's so People can check in on you.

Trans -members of the caravan holds a meeting in Nogales, Mexico, including Joselyn (L), The Transgender Law Center", a Californian NGO, was of the many organizations they support. They helped in the creation of a 655-page parole request on The Rainbow caravan job, detailing the dangers they faced, at home and in detention, and the reasons why they are not a Flight Risk .

For Trans women, there have some small hope, in the year 2017, the criminal suspension be granted probation. For The Men it was unlikely.

Jerson says he felt compelled to join The Group after his application for asylum was rejected in Mexico.

just before the intersection, he called his mother Back Home to tell her, he could be in detention for an indeterminate period of time. You have already lost a husband and A Son , and with two other children, who had emigrated, said that you be understood.

It was during this phone call, he came to her. She cried and told him she loved him.

"It was torture," says Joselyn, what happens is, as soon as you cross The Border . "First, we had our clothes in a freezing cold room. Then we had to stay there for hours without food and drink. "

The Group was divided into two, and two privately run prisons.

mexico, us immigration, nicaragua, long reads, lgbt, honduras

Source of news: bbc.com