New project launched supporting Trans+ Asylum Seekers

We Exist Legal: A collaborative new service

We Exist Legal is a new project providing free legal advice and representation to Trans+ people navigating the UK’s asylum and immigration system. The service is a collaboration between grassroots Trans+ mutual aid group We Exist and legal charity Asylum Justice, and is delivered by Hussein Said – an experienced solicitor specialising in LGBTQ+ asylum law and a member of both organisations.

This initiative was created in direct response to the systemic barriers Trans+ people face when seeking asylum – barriers that go far beyond the usual flaws of the UK asylum system.

Why Trans+ people need specialist legal support

Trans+ asylum seekers often find themselves disbelieved, misunderstood, or mistreated by a system that was never designed to recognise or respect their experiences. Decision-makers frequently lack the legal and cultural understanding to assess Trans+ claims fairly. Applicants are subjected to invasive and humiliating questioning, and often expected to produce evidence that doesn’t reflect the realities of gender transition or persecution.

Many Trans+ asylum seekers are repeatedly misgendered by officials and receive correspondence addressed to their former (‘dead’) names – a dehumanising and avoidable error that causes serious distress. Others are placed in accommodation that is unsafe or inappropriate, isolated from community support, and at particular risk if detained.

At the same time, Legal Aid has been stripped back, and the hostile environment continues to make accessing justice increasingly difficult.

A community-led legal response

We Exist Legal was created to meet these challenges head-on. The service is led by Hussein Said, solicitor at Asylum Justice, a nationally recognised expert in LGBTQ+ asylum law, and member of We Exist – a Trans Collective and mutual aid group organised by a team of artists and activists in London and Cardiff in 2020, grounded in the principle that we are all responsible for caring for one another and changing our collective conditions through solidarity, not charity. By combining grassroots organising with legal expertise, We Exist Legal offers trauma-informed, strategic legal support which is rooted in trust, dignity, and a deep understanding of what Trans+ people face in the UK immigration system.

Accessing the service

We Exist Legal is currently able to take on up to three new legal cases per month with a particular focus on those based in Wales.

All legal work is delivered by Asylum Justice in close collaboration with We Exist, ensuring that the service is both expert-led and community-connected.

To access the service or make a referral, email: info [at] weexist.org.uk.

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