Hello, my dear friends. I am Elie Azad, a transgender woman from Morocco. I am 23 years old and have faced many difficulties. The situation is very bad in Morocco there is no support for transgender people to access healthcare or education—the situation is very bad. My story began when I was 16 and discovered that I was transgender. At that time, I was forced to leave school because I was subjected to verbal abuse and hurtful words, which later escalated into violence and many other things from the school principal and other students. Once, I was beaten by three people on the street. That was after I had left school. When I went to the police to file a complaint, the police mocked me. They didn't take me seriously and said they would arrest me if I returned to the station again. After that incident, my family began to abuse me violently. Following this assault, they wouldn't let me go out and forbade me from going out onto the street. My parents and brother put all kinds of pressure on me, and when they stopped me from going out onto the street, I started using knives to cut the veins in my arms. There are still scars on my left arm—I'll leave a photo at the end of this story. They wouldn't let me go out because of their honor, customs, and traditions. I even tried to commit suicide three times because I wasn't allowed to go out. There was a lot of pressure and violence from all sides. I tried to overdose on banned medications, but unfortunately, I didn't succeed. In another attempt to leave this world, I tried rat poison, and yet another time I tried to hang myself, but unfortunately, I failed. Even my chances of leaving this planet were unsuccessful. My family took me to a hospital for a stomach pump. They issued reports from the hospital, but my family kept the papers. Then the hospital sent me to a psychiatrist, and I was lucky—this doctor was bisexual. At first, I was afraid I'd be placed in a medical facility for a while, but I was lucky. The doctor was very kind; he was the one who opened my eyes and encouraged me to escape. He was the one who told me I had to escape from this harmful place. He said to me, “Don't lose hope. Don't leave—life is beautiful.” He told me I had to escape to Turkey. He was the one who helped me book a flight from Morocco to Turkey. On the day of my departure, he told my family they had to bring me to his clinic to get a shot. I ran straight from there to the airport. From there, I went to Istanbul. At first, I thought he might be hostile toward LGBTQ+ people, but he was a kind person. I arrived in Turkey and didn't know anyone. I spent two days on the streets. After that, a Tunisian woman helped me and took me to a private hostel. A few days later, I tried to apply for asylum in Turkey, but unfortunately, UNHCR in Turkey had a lot of applications at the time. After a few days, I met someone named Alaz—he's a trans man. I stayed at his house for a long time.I tried to find a solution; I booked tickets to Brazil through KLM, but they were canceled because I didn't have a transit visa. I tried to raise funds through GoFundMe and booked tickets again. This time, the tickets were direct to São Paulo. When I arrived at the airport, they gave me my boarding

 passes, but at the gate, I was prevented from traveling to Brazil. The Turkish Airlines staff were rude to me that day. I felt frustrated and was on the verge of giving up, but my new friends in Turkey and Europe gave me support. I kept fighting. A few days later, my brother came to Istanbul looking for me, so I decided to flee to Thailand. When I arrived in Thailand, I asked the Bangkok airport police for asylum. They told me I had to contact UNHCR. They were very kind to me. I tried to contact UNHCR, but there was no response. Every day I went to their office, but unfortunately, no one was there to receive me. UNHCR in Thailand discriminates against LGBTQ+ refugees. My visa had expired; it was valid for 60 days, so I renewed it for another month. Now I have to find a place to move to. I hope for your support.

. 

I'm asking for your support in raising funds so I can move to a place that offers me protection. Links to my GoFundMe and chuffed accounts are below.

.

https://gofund.me/76674b1db

https://chuffed.org/project/172186-helping-raise-funds-for-our-beautiful-trans-sister-elie