Asylum, a manifesto for LGBTQ refugees with Edafe Okporo

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Edafe Okporo is a global gay rights activist, the founder of</span> <a href= "https://www.refugeamerica.org/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Refuge America</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, and one of the most visible voices on the issue of displacement.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Edafe grew up in Nigeria where religion played an important role in his childhood.  Edafe shares how he was guided to pray the gay away and how he became a pentecostal pastor in this effort.  An interaction with an older closeted priest made him realize he was in for a life of suffering and needed to come out to live an authentic life.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Edafe talks about becoming an advocate and getting involved in LGBTQ organizations after losing many friends to AIDS due to homophobic laws and stigmas which prevent many from getting tested and treated.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Due to this work, Edafe was the victim of violence from anti- LGBTQ groups in Nigeria which resulted in him seeking asylum in the US to save his life. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Edafe tells us more about the asylum seeking process and how and why he created Refuge America to help the many LGBTQ refugees who come to the US to live safely. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>He is the author of ASYLUM, A Memoir & Mainfesto,</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">a poignant memoir and urgent call to action for immigration justice, out June 2022.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.edafeokporo.com/book"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">https://www.edafeokporo.com/book</span></a></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.refugeamerica.org/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">https://www.refugeamerica.org/</span></a></p>