It's still illegal to be in a same-sex relationship in 70 countries. Every year, 1800 LGBTQ+ people arrive in the UK fleeing abuse, imprisonment, and fear of death because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

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Being comfortable in expressing our LGBTQ identity is one of the hardest challenges we face when we first come here. We have to be very confident in talking about it to Immigration Officers so that we can apply for asylum. But we have spent our whole lives hiding who we are, so suddenly being able to live freely is a big adjustment!

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That's one of the reasons that Pride is so important to us. It's an opportunity for us to celebrate how far we have come, and to show the world that we are - at last - proud to be who we are.