Fighting for Change: Yeraldine Cabrera
Written by James Patricks, Sona Circle
10/06/22
Stories about love against adversity are popular and prevalent in all cultures because they tell us that with perseverance love can conquer all.
A fitting message this pride month and one that it embodied in Yeraldine Cabrera. Yeraldine came out in her late 30s having already had two children who were in their teens when she came out. She began living with her girlfriend Zailet but the two were fired and suffered harassment from their landlord. Because of this, the couple made the difficult decision to let her children live with relatives rather than let them become homeless and the two moved to Ecuador. In Ecuador they suffered similar issues but were able to find work in UNHCR’s Ecuadorian agency and were trained to become community leaders working with other refugees living in Ecuador.
Via this program Yeraldine has become a community leader, particularly in helping LGBTQIA+ individuals living in Venezuela.
Ecuador reportedly houses over 500,000 Venezuelan refugees with an estimated 10,000 of them identifying as LGBTQIA+ meaning that Yeraldine has her work cut out for her.
Zailet has said that the paths they’ve paved for themselves and others like them has let her feel far more confident in holding her girlfriend’s hand in public.
Written by James Patricks
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