Hi Friend,
My name is Jude. I’m queer and nonbinary, and I’m from Saudi Arabia. I’m sharing my story this Giving Tuesday to support Immigration Equality, an organization that saved my life.
Three years ago, I traveled 6,500 miles from Saudi Arabia to New York to escape the death penalty for my sexual orientation and gender identity. Thanks to Immigration Equality, I won asylum, which allowed me to stay here and live my best life.
Now, I want to give back by raising $6,500 to support the free legal services Immigration Equality provides to asylum seekers, just like me, who are LGBTQ or living with HIV. I know we can reach my goal but only if we come together as a community. Plus, a generous donor will DOUBLE any amount you contribute today.
I was born in Saudi Arabia, and I was abandoned by my parents. The government put me into the foster care system, and my foster parents tried really hard to raise me as a “good Muslim girl”—but that wasn’t who I was.
I was forced to wear a hijab and abaya—the religious clothing women are required to wear over their hair and their bodies. I couldn’t express who I was dressed that way, so I went out wearing boy’s clothes, and I cut my hair short. I tried to hide my short hair under my hijab.
When I was a teenager, I stopped repressing my sexual orientation, and I allowed myself to feel my true feelings. A few years later, I fell in love with my first girlfriend. It was great, but we couldn’t share our relationship.
Rejecting the gender roles assigned to me as a perceived Saudi woman put me in grave danger. Dressing as a man and being in a same-sex relationship or perceived same-sex relationship were punishable by lashings and death.
In fact, in 70 countries it is a crime or fundamentally unsafe to be LGBTQ. Every year, queer people in those countries flee to the U.S., and Immigration Equality has won asylum for over 1,500 of them. Thankfully, I was one of them, but they wouldn’t have been able to accept my case without the support of people like you.
When I was 18 years old, the government decided it was time for me to marry a man, and that terrified me. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be forced to have his children.
Because I continued to rebel against gender norms, they put me in a halfway house to train me to be a proper housewife. My behavior was seen as equally criminal to that of ex-convicts, who also stayed there.
My foster mother helped me escape the halfway house, but it was too dangerous for me to stay in Saudi Arabia. To get me out of the country, she lied to the authorities, saying she needed me to help nurse her sick sister back to health in the U.S.
I found my way to the United States. I found my way to Immigration Equality. They connected me to my amazing pro bono lawyer. I am beyond grateful for everything that Immigration Equality has done for me. This Giving Tuesday, I urge each and every one of you to please, give what you can to support Immigration Equality’s mission. Every gift will be matched 100%, so you’ll have double the impact.
Sincerely,
Jude Black, asylum winner
Immigration Equality |
