Draped in a rainbow flag, an LGBTQ refugee going only by the pseudonym Karim pleaded for his life in Montreal on Sunday.

Karim fled his home country of Guinea around four years ago, after he was outed as a bisexual man.

Now, while other members of the LGBTQ community in Montreal are gearing up for Pride celebrations, Karim is facing deportation back to Guinea, where homosexuality is outlawed.

He spoke before media on Sunday with his back to cameras, afraid to expose his identity.

“I’m asking the Canadian government to save my life and my children’s lives,” he said in French, the rainbow flag pulled around his shoulders.

Karim has been in Canada since he was forced to escape Guinea.

As a member of a major Guinean political party, he was the victim of a smear campaign when his sexual identity was made public, and an arrest warrant was issued for him.

Now he fears his life is at risk.

In a statement released Sunday, Karim said he could “not believe” that the country where he found safety could deport him.

“My life has been destroyed in Guinea and my family is in hiding,” he said. “As someone who identifies as bisexual, sending me to Guinea is sending me to my death.”

Queer people in Guinea face prison time and the threat of death frequently, according to activist Mohamed Barry.

“He has to hide all the time,” Barry told CTV News. “If he gets (caught), he gonna get killed for sure.”

According to Karim’s lawyer, Stewart Istvanffy, the only hope for Karim is if the federal government steps in.

It’s happened once before: in 2017, Karim faced deportation, but the federal immigration minister, Ahmed Hussein, intervened at the last minute.

However, since then Karim’s appeals have been rejected. He applied for permanent residence on the basis of humanitarian grounds in February, but was refused in March, he said in the statement.

Istvanffy said that his circumstances aren’t being listened to, and that he’s being judged by similar cases, instead of having the particulars of his situation acknowledged.

“They wouldn’t look at the evidence, they wouldn’t hear him on the substance, and since then they’ve rejected all new evidence,” Istanvffy told CTV News.

Istvanffy plans to go to federal court to ask for a stay of deportation. A hearing is set for Monday afternoon.

“We will see if this government is sympathetic to … LGBTQ rights or if it's all hypocrisy,” Istanvffy said.

Meanwhile, the queer community in Montreal is standing in solidarity with Karim.

“Pride, a moment when we are supposed to be celebrating LGBTQ+ communities, is in a little less than a week. Instead of celebrating, we’re here today, fighting to save Karim, an endangered member of our community,” said Meryem Benslimane of Action LGBTQ avec les immigrantEs et refugieEs (AGIR).

“We are asking the Canadian authorities to allow him to continue living a safe and dignified life here in Montreal, where he can be himself without fear of danger.”

It’s support that Karim dearly needs, with his future hanging in the balance.

“Today,” he said Sunday. “I am between life and death.”