EDMONTON—Annet Atuhurire never expected to leave her home in Uganda — she didn’t plan on boarding the long flight to Vancouver, or pool her remaining money for a bus ticket east to a city called Edmonton that she’d only recently learned about.

“In my life, I never thought of leaving my country for any reason,” said the 39-year-old, who until recently had a government job in Kampala, the capital city of the East African country.

But she also never expected to have to flee violence back home, directed at her because of her sexual orientation. After two years of turmoil and trying to escape, she found herself at the church steps of St. Joseph’s Basilica in Edmonton in August 2017, looking for refuge.

Her suitcases in hand, Atuhurire was ready to start a new life in a city kilometres away from where she once called home — and she is not the only one.

What drew Atuhurire to the city is its reputation for having supportive and inclusive settlement services, which she says she heard about from strangers as soon as she began her journey to Canada. At the front steps of St. Joseph’s, a nearby neighbour helped Atuhurire find Hope Mission, where she was provided with warm clothes and a place to stay. She was then connected to the LGBTQ newcomers group.

“The rest is all history,” Atuhurire said.

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Since May 2017, Edmonton’s LGBTQ newcomers group — formed in partnership with the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers and the Pride Centre — has been helping more than 50 refugee claimants in the city, like Atuhurire, who fled persecution in their home countries on the basis of their sexual orientation. Most come from African or Caribbean countries, where being a member of the LGBTQ community could cost them their lives.

Edmonton isn’t usually the first choice for LGBTQ refugee claimants coming to Canada, according to Rev. Mark Chiang, a minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church who co-founded Rainbow Home.

The group was established in September to help financially sponsor LGBTQ refugee claimants who are looking to settle in Edmonton. It facilitated a joint sponsorship with the government for its first refugee in December through private donations.

“We were told that no LGBTQ refugee wants to come to Edmonton,” Chiang said, noting that Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal were the more popular destinations. “Edmonton is too cold.”

But a network of services, including newcomers’ centres and churches, is looking to put the city on the map as a place where LGBTQ refugees are able to find a safe haven and a network supporting them on everything from finding housing to navigating transit and legal paperwork.

Basel Abou Hamrah, who runs the newcomers program, said beyond logistical help, it also serves as a strong social support group for the claimants, who often journey to the city alone. They meet every Friday for social events, and on holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving.

“We are the only family for each other,” Abou Hamrah said.

Back in Uganda, African tradition expected Atuhurire to marry a man. Her family forced her in and out of multiple relationships, and eventually a marriage. Atuhurire ran away every time, even on her wedding day in 2015. She could not explain to her family that she was, in fact, a lesbian, and did not want to marry the man they found for her.

“There’s no safe space for homosexuality, for LGBT people, anywhere, any how,” Atuhurire said of Uganda.

The penalty for being gay is life in prison. “I haven’t seen anyone get out,” said Atuhurire, who was jailed herself and released on bail. “Most of them are killed inside there.”

After her arrival in Canada — and a long and complicated process of seeking approval of her claim — Atuhurire was finally granted permanent residency on Dec. 14, 2018. Chiang’s group, Rainbow Home, also welcomed their first sponsored refugee — a gay man from Gambia — that same week.

“We want this to be just the beginning,” Chiang said, adding that Rainbow Home is hosting fundraising events and looking to sponsor more refugees in the new year. “When you have that opportunity to impact someone’s life in such a major way, that’s such an honour for us.”

Atuhurire breathed a sigh of relief when her application for permanent residency was approved. Despite her happiness at being able to call Edmonton home, 2018 was a turbulent year for Atuhurire, who was diagnosed with lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer, in May.

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“I came with this basket full of dreams,” she said, adding she had hoped to write a book for her 40th birthday, titled Free at 40. “But now with the cancer, I don’t know what to do.”

But even with the illness, Atuhurire remains thankful for the freedom and support she found in Edmonton.

“They have been there for me,” she said of the newcomers group. “I’m thriving.”

Nadine Yousif is a StarMetro reporter/photographer based in Edmonton. Follow her on twitter: @nadineyousif_

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