Volunteer with LGBT Asylum

• Can take on responsibility and commit to the group for a longer period
• Keep the interests and needs of asylum activists and refugees at your heart no matter what
• That you are willing to be trained in the work, including coming to our Saturday meetings, Friday cafes, camps, refugees and/or contact persons meetings, half years meetings, and supervision. In average, it is 2-3 meetings a month
• That you will participate in the introductory training and continue to learn about new regulations and laws
• That you have time and energy for the work, including some periods of more intensive work loads
• Have experiences on your own body about being LGBT+ person (this means, that straight cis-persons cannot be volunteers in LGBT Asylum)
• Speak English and/or Danish to some degree
• Can use a computer

Please send a motivated letter to info@lgbtasylum.dk.

Include in the letter which parts and areas you prefer to volunteer within (you can of course be part of many).

As contact persons our work is always based on the premise that the asylum activist (in LGBT Asylum an asylum seeker is an asylum activist) basically has the responsibility and initiative.

Contact persons guide and support the asylum activist in their way.

As a contact person you will follow one or more asylum activists in their way through the Danish asylum system. This work is both in relation to the person’s legal case at the authorities and in relation to the social life as a newly arrived LGBT+ person in Denmark.

In relation to the legal case work, among other things, you will inform the asylum activist about the asylum system and their rights and responsibilities, you prepare the asylum activist for the interviews with different Danish authorities, and you help preparing the case by e.g. gathering background information about the legal and social situation for LGBT+ people in the country of origin.

You will also guide the asylum activist to get the right help or guidance from relevant persons/organizations/authorities, that could be health authorities, asylum centers, DRC Danish Refugee Council, lawyers.

Beside the legal case work, you will also function as the social link between the asylum activist and LGBT Asylum, and, thus, one of the tasks is to pass on information about social events like Saturday meetings (that is our monthly social meetings), Friday Cafes, Prides, demonstrations and so on. And it will be you, who arrange transport for the asylum activist to come to these events.

If you want to volunteer as a contact person please send your application to info@lgbtasylum.dk.

As with our contact persons, as mentors, your work is always to guide and support mentees (LGBT+ refugees) in working towards their goals, overcoming challenges and offering a listening ear. After being granted asylum, LGBT+ individuals may face significant difficulties when it comes to navigating life in Denmark. Mentors will support one or a few newcomers with starting and navigating their new life here. Throughout the program, there will be regular 1:1 meetings between mentors and mentees and workshops with all mentorship program participants.

It is a new role and program in the organization, so it is hard to say precisely what the work will entail. But from our research, we expect that you will, among other things, support mentees with the following:

• Building friendships and support networks
• Learning Danish and other skills, such as riding a bike
• Applying for a meaningful job or starting an education
• Understanding their rights and obligations in Denmark
• Being part of a larger queer community
• Accessing mental health services
• Accessing trans-specific-healthcare
• Translating letters from the authorities and navigating systems such as Skat
• Accompanying them to meetings or interviews with different authorities
• Being available for a quick chat or cup of coffee to catch up and lend a listening ear

You will also guide the mentee to get the right help or guidance from relevant persons, organizations, or authorities, such as health services, LGBTQ+ groups and communities, the municipality, language schools, educational institutions, specialised counselling services, and current and future employers.

While we don’t expect you to have prior knowledge of all the things listed above, we hope that you possess some level of familiarity with some things and a strong eagerness to collaborate, learn and exchange knowledge.

If you want to volunteer as a mentor, please send your application to info@lgbtasylum.dk.

As a community organizer, you are responsible for building and contributing to our psychosocial network. We are looking for people with experience and an interest in creating safer, inclusive and accessible social spaces and community events for LGBT+ people. Our community gatherings are for all our members and volunteers.

We organize one community gathering a month that takes place on Saturdays, as well as three-weekend camping trips. Other important elements of the group’s work include organizing sharing circles, cultural trips, pride-related events and activities, and support events to fundraise and create awareness. The themes and activities of these gatherings vary. Still, some things we have facilitated in the past are workshops on sexual health, mental well-being, anti-racism, religion from an LGBT+ perspective, holiday parties, lipsync battles, Nada ear acupuncture, ice skating, arts and crafts and more.

The group works closely with the staff member responsible for Community and Volunteer Programs, who supports the group in building capacity, leadership, organizing skills, and social awareness.

Typically, 40-50 people participate in our gatherings, and most times, we end the event with a shared dinner and sometimes a night out. All our events are planned and organized in close collaboration with our members and contact persons. Therefore it is an essential part of our work to include our members and volunteers in LGBT Asylum and to ensure that their needs and dreams are reflected in our community organising.

If you want to volunteer as a community organizer, please send your application to info@lgbtasylum.dk.

LGBT+ asylum seekers and refugees are often an invisible group, who face particular challenges in the asylum system and, very often, social isolation as long with racism, homophobia and/or  transphobia. Knowledge and information about one’s possibilities in this kind of cases are almost non-existing within the Danish asylum system, and that can have severe effects for not just the asylum seekers’ conditions during the application process, but also for the outcome of the individual cases.

Many of the asylum activists (the members in the group who are applying for asylum) in the group do not speak Danish or English, but for example Farsi/Dari, Arabic, Malay, Luganda and several other languages. Almost all contact persons speak Danish and English.

Most asylum activists live in asylum centres far from Copenhagen, so much of the contact is done by text messages, email and telephone. We host several social events and meetings where all contact persons, asylum activists and refugees in the group get together in Copenhagen and Aarhus.

We are looking for interpreters/translators who are LGBT+ sensitive and can help us with interpretation and translation associated with:

• Case-preparatory meetings where the contact persons prepare the asylum activists for interviews with the authorities, such as the Danish Immigration Service, Refugee Appeals Board or others
• Written and oral translation of documents, newspaper articles, letters, minutes of meetings, and other things to be used in asylum activists’ asylum cases
• Text messages, emails and phone messages from contact persons to asylum activists or vice versa, when, for example buying bus tickets to social gatherings, talk about problems at the centers or simple questions
• Ad hoc interpretation at social events and presentations.

We need interpreters/translators, who:

• Can interpret and translate between Danish or English and another language
• Is either an LGBT+ person or have an understanding of topics related to LGBT+
• Can help with interpretation and/or translation about twice a month

As an interpreter/translator in LGBT Asylum you are an important part of the group’s political and social work and it is expected that you can be part of the group for a longer period.

You are bound by the duty of confidentiality and you are not to disclose any information or names.

If you want to volunteer as an interpreter/translator please send your application to info@lgbtasylum.dk.