I'm coming to this august group of learned folks asking for advice.
I have this friend. I've known her for years through common interests and have followed her life via blogs and emails for about the last 13 years. She's a sweetheart - brilliant, beautiful and loving, a wonderful writer and a great mom.
The problem is she lives in Russia and she's gay.
Right now she's desperately trying to find a way to get herself, her son and her wife out of Russia before February's legislative debacle destroys her family. I can't help her with that, but I hope to help her have a place to land safely if she decides to come here to the states.
The problem is, I don't have room in my home to house a whole family and I don't even know if my home in rural PA would be the best place for her to land. What resources are there to help gay refugees? Would she even be able to apply for asylum and is that the best option for someone fleeing from this kind of persecution? Would she be better off going to the Russian expats over here and trying to network with them? She's got several friends over here and in Germany and is trying to get info on all options before making a decision. I want to give her good information, but I don't even know where to start. Any advice?