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Louis already knew he was gay at the age of ten. But in Southeast Asia, Myanmar, this is difficult. When he organizes demonstrations after the 2021 military coup, he is arrested, tortured, raped—and barely escapes with his life. In May 2023, he fled to Switzerland, and has been supported by Queeramnesty since the fall of 2023. But the long asylum process and the uncertainty are wearing on his nerves. Text: Ralf Kaminski Louis (whose real name is different) speaks English fair

Text: Ralf Kaminski It wasn't so long ago that organizers of Pride demonstrations and festivals were regularly confronted from all sides with the question of whether these events were even necessary anymore. After all, everything had more or less been achieved and was fine. These questions have largely fallen silent now because it's obvious to everyone how much times have changed. Sure, we've achieved a lot in the past few decades, but the backlash is now all the more intense

Thanks to the European Court of Human Rights, Kian Azad*, a gay Iranian man supported by Queeramnesty International, still has a chance of receiving asylum in Switzerland. At the end of 2024, the court ruled against the Swiss authorities' rejection of his asylum application. We spoke with Kian and his lawyer, Stephanie Motz. Text: Corin Schäfli Kian Azad (34) grew up in a small Iranian village in an ultra-religious family. When they learned through indirect channels that he w

In November 2024, Queeramnesty also indirectly achieved a significant legal victory: The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of a gay Iranian asylum seeker, whom we are supporting, and whom Switzerland had sought to deport to his aggressively anti-queer homeland. We spoke with the Iranian and his lawyer about the background and consequences of this positive ruling. We also spoke with sociologist and author Christina Caprez about her new book "Queer Kids," which offe

The mentors at Focus Refugees accompany and support queer refugees in Switzerland, sometimes also with the asylum process. Anne Bütikofer currently mentors three couples and one individual – and finds it personally very enriching. Text: Ralf Kaminski At first glance, looking after seven refugees sounds like a lot of work, but Anne Bütikofer shakes her head with a smile. "Because three of them are couples and I have co-mentors supporting me in two cases, the workload is manage

Resistance to LGBTQI* issues has increased in the Western world recently. In Switzerland, too, there is a mobilization against "woke madness and gender nonsense." Prominent political analyst Michael Hermann explains why this is working – and how the queer movement can still make further progress. Text: Ralf Kaminski Queer rights have made enormous progress in the Western world over the past 25 years. Is this the reason for the backlash we are currently witnessing almost every