I’m here posting about Trans Rescue again because I think the price of life and safety in Uganda for LGBT+ people is about to get horrifyingly low. For the past several months, a proposed crackdown on gay Ugandans has caused sudden evictions and mob violence to a level that many LGBT+ Ugandans fled the country. Uganda’s president has just signed the new laws, criminalizing merely identifying as gay or renting a home to a gay person, and instituting the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”. Trans Rescue anticipates an even greater wave of violence in the wake of this news.

Trans Rescue’s past experience helping transgender Africans move to safety in neighboring Kenya has positioned them as the organization best able to help. They have local contacts and are used to working in the area, and they’re already practiced at differentiating between scammers and people who really need help. They were one of the first organizations to get involved in this situation, and I believe they are still the best positioned to help Ugandans evacuate.

Trans Rescue has run almost completely out of funds. They don’t have the funds to do anything beyond keeping the current residents of their safe house fed and housed, and they’re receiving calls from LGBT+ Ugandans who’ve been attacked by their neighbors already and desperately need to leave, and in some cases already have a friend or family member they can stay with in a safer place, all they need is a $30 bus ticket.

Any small donation Trans Rescue receives right now will go towards helping these people who just need one small thing to get to a safe place. I believe that Trans Rescue’s normal operations (which include assistance with housing and starting a business at a higher cost per person) are also cost effective. Right now, the worsening crisis and Trans Rescue’s current lack of funds make the cost to save a life abnormally low for any intervention to help currently living humans.