Moments before presenting themselves at the border in Nogales, Arizona, 16 gay and transgender refugees from Central America stood hand in hand for a moment of reflection. The journey to this point had been long, and it wasn’t over yet.
Most of them had met each other for the first time on their way to Mexico, and all of them had faced persecution in their home countries. Some of them fled violence by police and gang members. Others fled violence from their families. They’d all heard stories of being turned away at the border, and so they banded together in a caravan.