Dear Sir,
By: Teresa Kuhl
Tags: Illumination, LGBTQ, LGBT, Love, Humanitarian

LGBT| LGBTQ| Love|Humanitarian

Dear Sir,

Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

That’s exactly how I’m going to start a letter today. I think it gets right to the point. I’m writing about a project that is dear to my heart. Far more importantly, it is life and death for the people who need help. And, they check all the boxes here in America. No matter what color your hats and beer koozies are. The combination of adjectives I choose to describe them, and your response to my letter, will tell us both everything we need to know.

Dear CEO Sir,

I don’t believe in wasting your time. So, I’ll get straight to the point. I am asking you to support me in a project I’m tackling. And by support, I mean money. And probably some kind of fiduciary kind of person. I think. The project is for two men who just might be greater humanitarians than any of us. They live in Nairobi, but they came from Uganda; that’s in Africa. They are refugees. Oh, and they are gay.

They are also two of the strongest, most creative, courageous, and loving men I have ever met. Like in my whole life. They need help, and frankly, I think they deserve it.

(at this stage, I start to wonder if I should skip the letter and go see the CEO’s eyes when they hear this information. But I figure it’s a pretty clear cut answer. And we’ll know soon enough.

You see, I live in a pretty conservative and very pale part of America. The land that has grounded the Statue of Liberty for letting too many people come over. You know. It’s challenging to get people to embrace the cause of a bunch of LGBTI refugees in Africa. Preferences run toward helping people that look a little more familiar. But perhaps my fantasy CEO can look beyond that.)

You see, these guys come from Uganda. They had to flee for their lives along with so many others when it was found out they were LGBTIQ. Uganda has decided that it is against the law to be the person God created. They demand you conform to their ideals, or they imprison you, beat you, kill you. They force you to run for your life. So that’s what these refugees have done.

They were supposed to be protected and cared for as refugees and asylum speakers. The United Nations Refugee Agency was supposed to care. But instead, the LGBTI community in Nairobi and Camp Kakuma has been abandoned to hate. The agencies and activists who pledged to see them through has ignored them. Deprived them. Fed them to the proverbial wolves of homophobia. If you know what I mean, sir.

The two I am here requesting help for would like to open safe houses with food and vocational training for their fellow refugees. Yes, that’s right, they are refugees themselves, and yet they are the ones to provide what little hope there is for their fellows. That level of love for our fellow man truly deserves to be returned, am I right?

My friends have each been waiting for resettlement for years. Yes, years, So we really cannot add them to the “well, everything is shut down because of covid” list. Neglect and abuse came long before the virus. That’s why we need your help. We simply need one person, one company, one organization, to take on this humanitarian cause, (and tax deduction, ding, ding, ding) and make a real difference in many lives.

Photo by Richard Dykes on Unsplash

Wait. What? Are you tossing my request in the trash? Because they are gay? Because they are really really dark-skinned and live in Africa? You are going to give a pass to considering their desire to live? Just exactly like the African government and the United Nations Refugee Agency did?

Oh, how I hoped you would be different. I wanted you to be the one. I know there are all kinds of problems all around the world. Yes, I am aware that the United States is a little bit of a dumpster fire these days. Yes, you’re right. Everyone asks for money. And they aren’t even Americans. Yet.

There isn’t enough to go around.

Unless, of course, there is.

Thank you for reading.

If you would like to know a little about who I am, you can start here:

If you would like to learn more about the LGBTI refugees I am working to help, here’s a good place to start.

Or you can start with this one:

To find out what brought me to the world of LGBTI advocacy, then here is the story of the beginning, my grandson’s transgender journey: