Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America

As the current leadership in America continues to demonize immigrants and drastically restrict the flow of refugees and asylum seekers into the U.S., UNSETTLED brings to life the names, faces, and tumultuous backstories of LGBTQ individuals forced to flee intense persecution in their home countries: Subhi, a gay Syrian refugee who, having survived multiple death threats from Islamic terrorists, beatings by a violent and homophobic father, and a nation devastated by years of war, finds his voice as a leader for refugee rights in the U.S. Along the way he meets then Ambassador Samantha Power and is invited to be the first gay man ever to testify before the U.N. Security Council. Cheyenne and Mari, a lesbian couple from Angola who, having faced brutal harassment from family and neighbors, seek uncertain asylum through the American immigration courts while pursuing their dreams of becoming musicians. Junior, a gender non-conforming gay man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo struggles intensely to find basic housing and livelihood while exploring a more fluid gender identity. As the U.S. has increasingly closed its borders, these vulnerable refugees struggle to find safety and new homes on our shores. Landing in gay-friendly San Francisco and girded with new hope (aided by advocates, church volunteers and Jewish Family and Community Services, as well as ordinary citizens), their challenges only begin to multiply: finding new homes, new jobs and new identities in the country’s most cost-prohibitive region forces these new immigrants to dig deep just in order to survive. But what are the costs persecuted immigrants pay for seeking refuge and how are everyday Americans stepping forward to help those most in need?