Khalid was initially from Russia. Gay men were being tortured and being beaten to death. Through reports by Irina Gordienko and Elena Milashina, stories of the horror unfolding in Chechnya, Russia reached the entire world.
The Novaya Gazeta reported that they were indeed evidence that gay men were being tortured and killed in Russia. Outward LGBT Community immediately reached out to the Russian LGBT network to set up safe houses or people who managed to escape the anti-homosexual purge.
Khalid was one of them. He took a leap of faith and contacted Outward LBGT Community.
He was afraid that the community might be working with the police. Today, he is living a happy life in Toronto where his sexuality does not matter. He has learned English and found a part-time job to help support himself. He has even enrolled in a program to study Marketing.
Outwards LGBT Community was able to rescue about 57 Chechens and relocate them to Canada.