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Rainbow Railroad

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Rainbow Railroad
Founded2006
TypeNGO
  • Canada 827142530RR0001
  • United States 47-4896980
Legal statusCharitable organization
PurposeGlobal LGBTQI+ refugee support and advocacy
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. Founded in 2006, the organization's name and concept draw inspiration from the Underground Railroad, used during the 19th century by enslaved Africans in the United States to escape to free states or into Canada.[1]

Since its founding, Rainbow Railroad has assisted more than 18,000 individuals, including more than 2,000 LGBTQI+ refugees assisted through Rainbow Railroad's Emergency Travel Support (ETS) program. The organization is based in Toronto and New York City.

History

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2006 through 2019

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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.[2]

Effecting resettlements one or two at a time out of Jamaica, Nigeria, and Uganda in its earliest days, the organization enjoyed gradually increasing efficiency and professionalization. It earned charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency in 2013,[3] hired Executive Director Justin Taylor as its first full-time staffer in 2014,[4] and acquired 501(c)(3) status (as American Friends of Rainbow Railroad and later Rainbow Railroad USA) in the United States in 2015.[4][5] Upon Rainbow Railroad's 10th anniversary in 2016, the Winnipeg-based Upside Down Tree Foundation gifted the organization with a transformational $400,000 grant. [4] The gift provided critical funding for execution of 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.[4][6]

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.[7][8][9] 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 July 2019 issue of Time magazine.[10][11] The appearances served to bolster the organization's international profile.

By year end 2019, Rainbow Railroad surpassed more than 800 individuals resettled since its inception through ETS.

COVID-19 pandemic and program refinements

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The growth in annual resettlements facilitated by Rainbow Railroad slowed amid worldwide travel restrictions brought on when the outbreak of COVID-19 grew to pandemic levels in spring 2020. Facing uninterrupted help requests during this period, the organization's leadership turned to a focus on complementary services — chiefly government-assisted resettlements, temporary cash support to those requesting help, grant support to locally acting partner organizations, information/network referrals, and crisis readiness.[12]

The pivot enabled not only a sustained response to help requests in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a rapid and significant increase in cases deemed resolved per revised KPI tracking — i.e., in 2019 Rainbow Railroad facilitated 200 cross-border resettlements; in 2020 the organization resettled 75 individuals, but was able to assist an additional 426 individuals across a more robust complementary service mix.[12] In subsequent years, these areas of work would increasingly constitute a suite of discrete programs.

2021 and beyond

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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.[13] Between August 2021 and June 2022, Rainbow Railroad helped to resettle 247 LGBTQI+ Afghans in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.[14]

Case intake and triage

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Rainbow Railroad accepts help requests via a secure online portal. As the organization receives more help requests annually than it can service, the organization has developed a system of triage that it articulates using the acronym V.I.T.A.L.[15]

Verify. In collaboration with local partners, Rainbow Railroad verifies the details and urgency of each case through interviews, documentary evidence, and supporting testimony. The organization applies a queer-sensitive, trauma-informed, survivor-centered approach in this process.

Initiate. Upon verification of case details, case managers identify and initiate appropriate intervention pathways, tapping the assistance of local partnering agents as needed.

Travel. If resettlement is required, Rainbow Railroad facilitates travel to safer locations either inside or outside a case individual’s country of residence. Where necessary, the organization also arranges asylum-claiming assistance upon arrival.

Advocate. Rainbow Railroad advocates for expansive and reliable pathways to safety — and policies that preempt their need — in collaboration with governments, international authorities, academics, local partners, affected populations, and civil society.

Learn. Rainbow Railroad continually monitors and evaluates its programs to enhance service delivery and impact, implementing insights gained from LGBTQI+ people at risk. The organization also strives to serve as thought leaders, sharing emerging trends, recommendations, and situational analyses with the global humanitarian community, governments, and grassroots actors.

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 in Canada.[16]

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 with Rainbow Railroad's assistance were given drag makeovers as the main challenge for the week.[17] The winner of this challenge, Priyanka, won a $10,000 donation to Rainbow Railroad in her name.[17]

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.[18]

See also

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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. ^ "About". Rainbow Railroad. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b c d "2016 Report to Funders" (PDF). Rainbow Railroad. Retrieved 28 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "Rainbow Railroad USC Inc. - GuideStar Profile". Candid. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  6. ^ "2017-2019 Strategic Plan" (PDF). Rainbow Railroad.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "Rainbow Railroad: The organization saving LGBT citizens from hostile governments". CBS News. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ a b 2020 Annual Report. Rainbow Railroad. 2021.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ "How Canada is failing LGBTQ+ Afghan refugees". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  15. ^ "2023 Annual Report: Understanding the State of Global LGBTQI+ Persecution". Rainbow Railroad. June 2024. p. 14. Retrieved 28 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. ^ "Bonham Centre Awards Gala 2018". Archived from the original on 1 April 2018.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "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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