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Welcoming new LGBTQ+ immigrants to New York through storytelling, community and human connection
Portrait of Edafe Okporo

Winner

Edafe Okporo

Welcoming new LGBTQ+ immigrants to New York through storytelling, community and human connection
Portrait of Edafe Okporo

Website

edafeokporo.com

Year

2020

Organization

Refuge America

Sector

Human Rights

Borough

Manhattan

Neighborhood

Morningside Heights

Edafe, a Nigerian-born LGBTQ+ activist, is running for NYC Council to champion housing, healthcare, and public safety for vulnerable communities.

As a gay man in Nigeria, Edafe faced persecution and extreme violence. Fearing for his life, he sought asylum in the United States in 2016 and spent months in detention. Eventually, he was able to secure a bed and a job through connections to activis…
Read winner story

Publication

Columbia Daily Spectator

‘I am not giving up’: Edafe Okporo on his platform for West Harlem and running third party

By Aiyana St. Hilaire
October 18, 2025
West Harlem resident and activist Edafe Okporo migrated to New York City nearly a decade ago, seeking asylum after leaving Nigeria for being persecuted for his sexuality. Before receiving asylum status, however, Okporo was…
No Guts, No Glory
Portrait of Edafe Okporo smiling in front of a wall with red flower illustrations

Finding Home

By Dan M.
Image of Edafe with his book
Edafe and his 2023 debut memoir, “Asylum”

Publication

Them

Edafe Okporo, a Gay Nigerian Refugee, Could Be the First Former Asylum Seeker Elected to the NYC Council

By Nico Lang
July 26, 2024
Edafe Okporo is running for the New York City Council because he still believes in the promise that America represents, even despite the ordeal he faced in coming to the United States. He first arrived at John F. Kennedy…
Edafe campaign photo

Publication

Gothamist

Manhattan Council race heats up with entrance of refugee turned migrant advocate

By Giulia Heyward
May 15, 2024
Edafe Okporo said he knew he had to leave his native Nigeria in 2016, as people were pounding on the door of his home in Abuja, threatening to kill him because of his sexual orientation…

Publication

The Nation

‘They Had Found Out That I Am Gay, and They Were Going to Kill Me’

John Washington
March 27, 2019
Any form, kind, or shape, that shows that you are gay, you are basically dead by the law…

Update from winner

The first successful asylee ever to run for elected office in NYC
@edafeforcouncil
History made.
Edafe Okporo is officially #1 on the ballot—the first successful asylee ever to run for elected office in NYC.

Publication

Columbia Spectator

Edafe Okporo gains traction in local District 7 race

Tsehai Alfred
February 11, 2025
For Edafe Okporo, moving to Harlem after emigrating from Nigeria in 2016 felt like coming “into the Renaissance”—a feeling that stuck with him for each trip he would take to 126th Street…
“I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Edafe is one of the most gifted young leaders I’ve been lucky enough to meet.⁠”
Kevin Jennings
CEO, Lambda Legal

Update from winner

Edafe celebrating his campaign launch
@edafeokporoJune 2, 2024
We launched our historic candidacy to represent #NYCDistrict7. I’m running on the issues, not identity. I have a proven track record, not just promises. This election is not about me versus an opponent; it’s about ensuring we get a city council that works for the people.

Publication

NBC News

Nigerian refugee creates N.Y.C. shelter for asylum-seekers

By Julie Compton
July 26, 2020
Before Edafe Okporo helped found New York City's first and only shelter for asylum-seekers and refugees, he was wandering the streets of Elizabeth, New Jersey, a refugee with nowhere to go. Although he was homeless, Okporo…

Publication

New York Times

New Prize Modeled on MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grants Hands Out $1 Million

By Jazmine Hughes
October 20, 2020
Edafe Okporo became the director of a homeless shelter for those seeking asylum in the United States, remembering how he had lived at Newark’s Pennsylvania Station, showered at a YMCA and bounced between shelters when he…
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