Support Mark's Journey to Safety and Freedom

Hi! My name is Mark. I’m a 19-year-old queer kiddo from Cairo, Egypt.

A little bit about me: I came to the US at 15 years old to go to boarding school in Buffalo on a scholarship. After I graduated, I started working and living in the US and experiencing and exploring my sexual orientation as I have always known that I'm gay :) My visa expires in the next few months, and I’m raising money to help apply for SIJ (Special Immigrant Juvenile Status) so I can stay and live in the United States because, sadly, if I go back to my country, I get tortured and prosecuted, and I could potentially die.

I am asking for your help because I simply love life. I want to be able to love whoever I want to love. My family abandoned me since I came out to them, and I have no support and choice but to ask my friends and you guys for help! I have been sexually assaulted numerous times as a kid when I was living in Egypt, and I wasn’t even able or allowed to talk about it. Here in the US, I’m able to talk about that and share my trauma and healing journey with others.

I believe this is not the end of my life, and I’m asking you guys for help and support to achieve my goal and dream of simply living freely and happily as a gay man❤️