by Michael K. Lavers

An advocacy group in Ecuador has created a fund to help LGBTQ people and Venezuelan refugees in the country during the coronavirus pandemic. Diálogo Diverso describes its Solidarity for Diversity campaign as an “emergency fund” to support LGBTQ Ecuadorians and Venezuelan refugees who live in the country’s capital of Quito and in the cities of Guayaquil and Manta.

Diálogo Diverso Director Danilo Manzano said that the fund hopes to raise $100,000 for roughly 200 LGBTQ families who live in Quito, Guayaquil and Manta. Manzano said the money will be used to help the families pay rent and to provide them with food, toilet paper and other basic supplies for two months.

The fund is part of Diálogo Diverso’s ongoing efforts to provide assistance — health care and access to lawyers, psychologists and social workers, among other things — to LGBTQ Ecuadorians and Venezuelans who have sought refuge in the country. Manzano noted that the U.N. Refugee Agency and the Australian and Canadian governments support Diálogo Diverso’s work. Read more via Washington Blade