Being able to be yourself, fully and unapologetically, is something that many of us take for granted in the UK. Sadly, this is a luxury that many people in the LGBTQ+ community aren't afforded, as their freedoms are curtailed in countries that don't accept them.
Rachael Wanjiru fled to the UK five years ago after it became too unsafe to stay in her home country of Kenya, where same-sex relationships are often 'demonised'.
Before leaving the country, the 46-year-old tried to hide her true sexuality in order to protect her safety in Kenya - even marrying a man to conform to the country's views around relationships. After the marriage ended, Rachael was cruelly outed as a lesbian by another partner. Fearing for her safety, she knew she had to leave.
In Kenya, LGBTQ+ people face persecution that others do not. Gay men can be imprisoned for 14 years for having sex, and while female same-sex-sexual activity is not explicitly prohibited by law, lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender people are not recognised in the Kenyan Constitution, and are often discriminated against covertly. Same-sex marriage is also banned under the Kenyan Constitution.
For Lesbian Visibility Week (April 24-31), Rachael is shedding light on the perils that lesbians around the world still face, as she now works for the very LGBTQ+ charity that helped her find the freedom to be herself in the UK.
The 46-year-old, who now lives in Salford, Greater Manchester, volunteers for the Lesbian Immigration Support Group (LISG), a charity that supports lesbian and bisexual women who are seeking asylum.
LISG offers a space for advice, support, and social meet-ups for women and their fellow "sisters" to go out together, to try and "reduce isolation and improve the wellbeing" of lesbian and bisexual women, creating a community of like-minded people.
As part of her work with LISG, Rachel is further supported by Manchester Pride, a leading LGBTQ+ charity that uses their platform to help raise the voices of grassroots organisations and marginalised groups.
Together they have costed a community session focused on LGBTQ+ immigration, asylum seekers, and refugees, and in the future will be working together to co-create resources to support LGBTQ+ immigrants and asylum seekers.
"The charity gave me a sense of belonging, a sense of home that I wish I had back in my country. It gave me the freedom, in a sense, to be open and volunteering made me think if there's something I can do, let me offer," Rachael said.
Rachael spoke of her journey of "growing up in a very puritanical society where there are expectations of how everybody ought to live, and if you're an outlier then something was wrong with you."
She said: "I knew when I felt an attraction for women, that it was not something that I was going to share.
"I didn't know back then in the 90s that there was such a thing as being a lesbian. I thought I was doing things that were horrible, bad, evil, and demonic, but I didn't know what I was, and I didn't feel I could express myself wholly. I could not even have dreamt about it.
"Through the media in other countries, I found out about people like Ellen De Generes who is a lesbian, and I realised that it was a possibility that you could be lesbian or gay, and it was mindblowing."
Rachael explained that she was so worried about speaking her truth that she "had to marry a man" when she finished university at 25 years old.
She said: "I could not be open with what I was, or what I was experiencing, and obviously the marriage didn't go very well, but my children came out of it so at the end of the day I am grateful for that."
Rachael was eventually cruelly outed as a lesbian by an ex-partner, describing the experience as so "horrible and horrifying" that she "had to leave" her country.
"I wanted to be somewhere where a woman can be who she is, and love who she loves. I wanted to go somewhere where I knew I was going to be safe," she explained.
When Rachael came to the UK, she was ready to speak her truth about being a lesbian, but found the process of seeking asylum "long and difficult". She is still waiting to take a British citizenship test, and desperately wants to be reunited with her children in Kenya.
The mum has been in the UK for five years and is taking great pride in helping other women in her situation.
Rachael said it's "amazing" to be able to give back, saying she feels proud to "add value to other people's lives".
She thinks it's "important to platform lesbians and Black lesbians who are claiming asylum and who are refugees, as they are not very well represented in anything."
"I feel like a human now, and it feels great to be able to support my fellow sisters", she added.
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