Over the past decade, Rainbow Sisters – our solidarity group for LGBTQ+ women seeking safety – have achieved amazing things!  

From groundbreaking research to Pride celebrations, our Rainbow Sisters bring joy and sisterhood to every day.

Our Rainbow Sisters meet weekly to build community, support each other, have fun, and to celebrate their identities.  

As Anu shared:  

️”Rainbow Sisters is a safe and welcoming space for women like me. To finally feel safe, when for so long all you have felt is danger, is like paradise.”  

Some weeks the group sing, play games, or create art. Other weeks the group learn about LGBTQ+ history and changemakers, or learn about their rights.

Each week is different, but each week is special.  

️“It is solidarity in action. It is happiness.” 

Over the last decade, our Rainbow Sisters have attended an amazing nine Pride celebrations.  

For many of our Rainbow Sisters, attending Pride was a momentous occasion: 

️”It was liberating, I felt proud of who I am and proud of being lesbian!”  

In 2023, we published our first ever report on the particular experiences of lesbian and bisexual women seeking safety, See Us, Believe Us, Stand With Us.

‍The research, coordinated by two of our Rainbow Sisters, Raolat and Olivia, uncovered the harms LGBTQ+ women face.  

The report uncovered the triple discrimination of racism, sexism, and homophobia many LGBTQ+ women seeking safety experience, including:  

❌Disbelief 

❌Detention 

❌Denial of protection 

“The Home Office routinely disbelieves our stories and denies us protection.” 

To mark the launch of the report, our Rainbow Sisters held an exciting event in Parliament where they met with MPs and Peers to share their findings and concerns. 

This led to an amendment being tabled in Parliament named after one of our Rainbow Sisters – Yvette’s Amendment. 

Our Rainbow Sisters have taken part in two different photography projects exploring their LGBTQ+ identities, their hopes and dreams.  

The projects used traditional, digital and film photography techniques, support by Autograph and Fast Forward: Woman in Photography.  

The first project, Putting Ourselves In The Picture, explored visibility, identity and belonging through the storytelling framework, I Was, I Am, I Will Be, culminating in beautiful portfolios. 

The second project, New Home, Our Resilience, reflected on displacement, strength, and rebuilding life in a new place.  

Some women explored their experiences of arranged marriage, homophobia, and chosen family. Others explored motherhood and identity. 

Both projects resulted in beautiful photography books, displaying the group project and individual women’s photography portfolios.  

And New Home, Our Resilience was exhibited at Old Street roundabout in London – a super proud moment for all of us!  

The creative arts are an important way for our Rainbow Sisters to reflect, explore, and share their experiences of homophobia, racism, misogyny and other forms of discrimination.  

We are so proud of all of our Rainbow Sisters – past and present – for sharing with such courage and openness.

Our Rainbow Sisters achieve a lot and do incredible things! But most importantly, we are proud of the community, solidarity and sisterhood they share.  

In the climate of hostility towards people seeking safety, the LGBTQ+ community, and women – this community is more needed than ever. 

Nikki, our Rainbow Sisters support group coordinator, shared: 

“It’s been an honour coordinating the Rainbow Sisters support group these last years. Creating a space where lesbian women feel safe and proud of who they are is so important. When your country criminalises your identity and society threatens you with violence, you have to hide who you are. Seeking safety and being proud of your true identity is a powerful act of resistance.

I continue to be inspired by our members’ strength and perseverance and support of each other in their journeys to live visibly and proudly as lesbians in the UK.” 

You can make a difference too!  

A donation of £10 can support one woman to attend Rainbow Sisters for the very first time.  

This can mark the start of a woman’s journey to acceptance and celebration: 

️“I am no longer afraid. I am proud. I am lesbian!”