LGBTQ+ supporters – particularly transgender people – representing a migrants’ association gathered in London, England, in 2022 to participate in the annual Trans Pride event in response to the injustice that trans+ people worldwide face daily. Photo: Hesther Ng/Via AP
[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal Migration Ministries, the church’s refugee resettlement agency, awarded $3,000 Rainbow Asylum Ministry grants to four Rainbow Initiative participant congregations and communities. Through the initiative, Episcopal churches and international partners bring awareness and aid to LGBTQ+ forced migrants and asylum-seekers.
“We are thrilled to enhance our support and training for these essential ministries within our church, which are dedicated to serving the most vulnerable among us,” Episcopal Migration Ministries director Sarah Shipman said in an Aug. 26 press release.
Episcopal Migration Ministries, commonly known as EMM, is one of 10 resettlement agencies in the United States along with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and others. EMM created the Rainbow Initiative in response to a 2022 General Convention resolution in support of LGBTQ+ forced migrants and asylum-seekers. In 2024, EMM has signed covenant agreements with 29 ‘Rainbow Initiative Congregations/Communities’ including churches, ministries and organizations of various denominations in the United States and Europe.
The Rainbow Asylum Ministry grants, which are funded with support from the United Thank Offering, have been awarded to the following Rainbow Initiative partners:
Joel Nafuma Refugee Center, St. Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal Church, Rome, Italy;
RISA NOLA (Rainbow Initiative at St. Anna’s), St. Anna’s Episcopal Church, New
Orleans, Louisiana;
St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, Portland, Oregon;
Rio Grande Borderland Ministries, El Paso, Texas.
The recipients will also receive personalized training, technical assistance and participation in an EMM-led learning community.
In June, St. Paul’s Within the Walls made history as the first church to march in the Roma Pride parade, where congregation members held banners and distributed pamphlets promoting the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center and the Rainbow Initiative. St. Anna’s launched RISA NOLA in January to promote its new ministry at Pride parades in New Orleans and Mandeville in June. St. Michael’s, an Immigrant Welcoming Congregation since 2013, became a sanctuary church for migrants in 2015. The Diocese of the Rio Grande’s Borderland Ministries supports migrant shelters along the U.S.-Mexico Border and operates a migrant shelter at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in El Paso.
LGBTQ+ forced migrants face persecution, discrimination and violence in not only their home countries, but also often in the countries where they seek asylum and resettlement. They’re sometimes placed in hostile housing arrangements with other straight and cisgender migrants. Same-sex parents risk family separation in the resettlement process when home countries don’t recognize the parents’ relationship.
Sixty-three countries criminalize private, consensual, same-sex relations, and almost half of these countries are in Africa; homosexuality is punishable by death in 12 countries, according to data collected by the Human Dignity Trust, a United Kingdom-based charity organization focused on using strategic litigation to defend LGBTQ+ rights globally.
No official data on how many migrants seek asylum under LGBTQ+ related groups exist. However, a 2021 study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that 1.3 million adult immigrants in the United States identify as LGBTQ+.
EMM’s website includes resources on how individuals and congregations can support LGBTQ+ migrants. Episcopalians interested in engaging in advocacy work for LGBTQ+ migrants also can learn more by visiting the Episcopal Public Policy Network’s website.
-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.