"It was a bracingly cold night a year ago last December when Javi (not his real name) found himself exiting the jetway at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. After a five-hour flight from the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador, he literally had no idea where he was going."
"Described by those who know him as a good-looking guy - about 5'9″, with dark hair and a beautiful smile - Javi, 30, grew up in a small town in El Salvador among a religious and "very conservative" family, including an uncle who had a problem with him."
""He said, 'I'm gonna kill you, because in my family, it's not allowed to have a fa**ot,'" Javi recounted well enough in English, his second language."
Javi fled explicit death threats from an uncle who opposed his sexuality and held police power, leaving him isolated when family offered no protection. Corruption within Salvadoran law enforcement and past violent incidents left relatives powerless or fearful to intervene. Javi moved repeatedly as terror spread across El Salvador under an increasingly authoritarian regime, ultimately undertaking a perilous journey to the United States. Organizations such as Rainbow Railroad assist LGBTQ+ people escaping state-sponsored violence. Queer asylum seekers face complex resettlement challenges amid rising xenophobic rhetoric and restrictive immigration climates in destination countries.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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