by Craig Takeuchi on March 6th, 2021 at 10:00 PM 1 of 1 2 of 1 A Vancouver organization that helps LGBT people seeking asylum or refugee protection in Canada is undergoing a phase of growth. On March 4, Rainbow Refugee announced that Aleks Selim Dughman Manzur (who uses the pronouns they/them) has been appointed the organization’s first programming director, who will lead the community nonprofit’s sponsorship, settlement, support, outreach, and advocacy programs. In addition, Manzur is part of a new two-person leadership team that oversees the organization’s development. Manzur, who identifies as transmasculine, was born in Palestine and grew up in Chile before immigrating to Canada in 2008, and is a lawyer who specializes in human rights, women’s rights, reproductive and sexual health law, LGBT+ rights, and refugee rights.