I can't imagine what it's like to leave everyone and everything you've ever known and move to a strange place. These people have some serious guts.
This is Kristina, and she left Ukraine because she is gay.
In Ukraine, Kristina and other gay people are subject to laws and a social structure that can put them in danger.
Ukraine is not the only country in the world that has laws intended to harm gay people.
There are over 70 countries in the world that have laws on the books against homosexuality, some of which make homosexuality "punishable by death."
The United States allows citizens from other countries to seek asylum in America if they:
- can no longer live in their home country because of a reasonable fear or proof they will be persecuted, or
- the reason for their persecution is related to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.
There's a really giant statue that's a symbol of the United States, and you probably recognize her.
At the base of the statue, there's a poem, and part of it says:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
I don't know about you, but it makes me proud that we have a system to offer protection for the persecuted. It doesn't work perfectly, but watch the video below to see what happens when it does.
Original video by BuzzFeedYellow. Statue of Liberty photo by Ger1axg used under Creative Commons license. The fact about countries where being gay is illegal is via BBC.
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