On Hessentag in Fulda, Katrin Hechler, the state Secretary for Integration in Hesse (SPD), presented AIDS-Hilfe Hessen with a grant notice totaling roughly 160,000 euros for the project “Rainbow Refugee Support.” “I’m pleased that we can continue this support into 2026,” Hechler said, according to a press release from her ministry. “Rainbow Refugee Support” carries out essential work to assist people who have faced persecution because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and who have sought refuge in Germany.
The project, officially named “Hessisches Netzwerk Lebens-, Sozial- und Gesundheitsberatung für queere Menschen mit Flucht- bzw. Migrationsgeschichte – Rainbow Refugee Support” (Hessian Network for Life, Social and Health Counseling for Queer People with Refugee or Migration Background — Rainbow Refugee Support), brings together social work with voluntary engagement from the queer community. It involves refugees and people with a migration background in the implementation, creating a form of integration work that is valued not only by initial reception facilities but also by municipalities and the Hessian LGBTQ+ community, Hechler added.
Rainbow Refugee Support is run under the auspices of AIDS-Hilfe Hessen and is implemented through the regional AIDS-Hilfe organizations across Hessian regions. It provides support for queer refugees throughout the state. Specific services include assistance with the external coming-out, for which flight and asylum situations often provide the context; health counseling; work addressing particular trauma experiences; and group activities designed to prevent isolation and loneliness while strengthening integration into the queer community. In addition, the project supports municipalities and first reception centers with questions of assignment and housing and offers training programs.
