Muslim, Jewish, Christian, & Queer
My journey to be accepted as openly queer forced me to leave Islam and Judaism (religions I was born with) and convert to Christianity. I was looking for a safe zone to be who I am. The idea of Jesus Christ who died for my sins and accepted me as his child attracted me to Christianity. I was hoping to be away from my judgmental Muslim community, unfortunately, I was wrong. That journey of love and acceptance forced me to leave the Christian church because I was too gay for th
Thailand's Strongman... not who you think
Patient is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo living in Thailand. He also just so happens to be the 1st place champion of the 2017 Strongman weight lifting championship in Bangkok. Despite constant discrimination living in Thailand, Patient has overcome many obstacles to be respected as an equal competitor among his gym peers. There are 99,000 total refugees and asylum seekers from over 45 countries living in Thailand. 7,000 are urban refugees mostly living in Ba
Why I don’t call myself a “refugee” anymore
America has been known for its generosity in welcoming refugees and immigrants from all over the world. Since 1948, the U.S. has opened its doors to European refugees, followed by those fleeing communist regimes largely from Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia, Korea and China and in the 1960s with Cuban refugees fleeing Fidel Castro. During Vietnam in 1975, USA resettled hundreds of thousands of Indo-Chinese refugees to America. This is only to name a few, there are so many more gro
