Gay Asylum-Seeker Rejected as Too Butch

The rules of asylum have recently come under greater scrutiny, given their subjective nature. It is up to the applicant to prove to the host country that he or she deserves refuge, but it is fundamentally up to the host country to choose whether the applicant's reasons are sufficient – and this often brings out certain stereotypes and prejudices. A court case in Canada illustrates the conflict that can arise when competing ideas about gender, identity, and sexuality meet in the international arena. A gay man from Mexico applied for asylum in Canada, claiming that he was blackmailed for his sexuality and forced to live in the closet to keep his job. In other countries such an application is likely to have been accepted, based on the obvious discrimination he faced, but in this instance his application was rejected. The Canadian immigration officials reviewing his application based their decision on their assessment that that he did not act effeminate enough and thus was not at risk for abuse. The man has appealed the decision, but as of now, the Canadian government has simply told him to move to a larger Mexican city where he would be more likely to be accepted. A similar case in Japan, where an Iranian man's request was rejected on the basis that homosexuality was not a sufficient reason for asylum, is also currently being contested. – YaleGlobal

Gay Asylum-Seeker Rejected as Too Butch

Ben Townley
Wednesday, May 5, 2004

A gay Mexican man plans to appeal for the second time a decision made by Canada's immigration body that claimed he could not be granted asylum because he was not "visibly effeminate."

Fernando Enrique Rivera, 30, was originally rejected by the country's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) in 2002. It said that because he didn't appear gay, he would be under no danger in Mexico, despite his claims that he faced blackmail from his employers within the police force.

It added that he should move from his home in Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City, in the hope that his sexuality will be accepted more there.

"Effeminate gestures come naturally and unconsciously. If he were indeed visibly effeminate ... he would have been (un)able to easily land a job with the 'macho' police force of Puerto Vallarta," the IRB concluded.

Rivera had hoped the decision would be overturned in a court, but he had no luck in April, when a federal court agreed with the decision. He must now wait for a final appeal on humanitarian grounds, the country's Globe and Mail newspaper reports.

The newspaper claims that the IRB only offers asylum to HIV-positive men, political activists and whistle blowers from Mexico. When it comes to gay men, it only considers overtly feminine men, who they say would face immediate danger in the country.

But Rivera says this system is flawed, as it fails to take into account those forced into living in the closet. He says his job in the area's police force would be questioned if he came out, and people who knew his sexuality were capable of blackmailing him.

"You don't choose to be gay. It's not like being a vegetarian. It's a very complex thing," he said in an interview with the newspaper.

"I can't go back to Mexico to lead a life of deception. I want to be in a society that accepts me the way I am."

Additionally, he says the system leads to some gay men attempting to be seen as effeminate, so as to ensure they are accepted as refugees.

"I know some gay refugees who put on lipstick and dressed effeminately for their hearings because they thought it would help their case. But that is not who I am," he said.

He is now waiting to see if his final appeal is accepted. If it is not, he is likely to be deported in the coming months.

The issue of gay refugees has been raised regularly in recent months. In Japan, a gay Iranian was rejected despite being officially recognized by the United Nations as an asylum seeker, after the country's immigration body ruled that persecution based on sexuality was "not enough."

http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2004%2F05%2F05%2F4
Copyright © 1995-1999 PlanetOut Corporation.