The aim of this article is to scribe and analyze the ma practic that the Greek Asylum Service appli to asss credibily asylum claims based on sexual orientatn. The analysis is based on a survey of 60 s (terviews and first stance cisns). Acrdg to the rults of the survey, the practic ed uld be divid to two tegori. On the one hand, practic that do not nform wh refugee law, the Common European Asylum System, and human rights standards, such as qutns around sexual practic of the asylum seekers, stereotyped expectatns about applints’ behavr and knowledge, and arbrary asssments lackg any legal reasong. On the other hand, practic that, at first sight, ply wh ternatnal and European guil for credibily asssment but are based on an sentialist unrstandg of lbian, gay, and bisexual inty. Acrdg to the rearch, applints are expected to have passed through a hard procs of self-realizatn which has to be acpanied, by flt, by feelgs of difference, shame, and sufferg. In the article, the thor crilly reflects on the practic applied, ncludg that this notn of sexual orientatn as nate and fg one’s inty, fails to take to acunt the tersectns of genr, class, ethnicy, and race, and uld lead to unjt judgments.
Contents:
- GAY ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE ‘TSIVE’ SEXUAL QUTNS
- 'HOME OFFICE WOULDN'T BELIEVE I WAS GAY: HOW DO YOU PROVE ?'
- GAY ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE 'HUIATN'
GAY ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE ‘TSIVE’ SEXUAL QUTNS
When an 18-year-old gay man om Afghanistan had his Atrian asylum requt nied, he claims he was told, “Neher your walk, your behavr, nor your clothg dite even the slightt that you uld be homosexual.
” A gay Iraqi man claims he was rejected by the same untry for beg too effemate, as the immigratn officers thought surely he was smmg them. And yet another man — this one Iranian, also seekg asylum Atria — claims he was rejected for not knowg the meang of the orange stripe the rabow Pri flag (somethg very few gay men actually know), spe his boyiend, who had been wag for him outsi, not beg lled as a wns.
But let nsir the stak of the asylum sexualy tts — if an LGBTQ dividual fails their “gay tt, ” they uld face certa ath back home, whether by stong or beheadg, or a lengthy prison sentence. They extorted her, burned her, beat her, abducted her gay iend, and threatened that she would be next. The Tmp admistratn seems more ncerned not to offend homophob and misogynists than to protect their victims.
'HOME OFFICE WOULDN'T BELIEVE I WAS GAY: HOW DO YOU PROVE ?'
This may mean clu beg gay-bashed, threatened by neighbors, fired om work, lled nam, or nied medil treatment. “I am very open about beg gay, and I was lucky that I had documented my life and was active wh LGBTQ+ anisatns, ” he says. Another report by the Swedish advocy group RFSL—the Swedish Feratn for Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer and Intersex rights—shows that mistaken prenceptns and expectatns about LGBTQ+ people on the part of migratn thori have a signifint impact on their procsg of asylum applitns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and exprsn.
“For example, a mor who clearly scribed herself as a trans woman was tried and asssed as a ‘homosexual man’ spe submtg extensive evince of genr-affirmg treatment. “To habate and have a sexual relatnship wh someone of the same sex do not make one homosexual, acrdg to the migratn thori, whout verbal acunt for a ep, emotnal procs of self-awarens about the sexual orientatn, ” the report ntu. However, prohibn of homosexual acts a untry's crimal s and threats of vlence alone are rarely nsired persecutn, unls n be shown that a group is makg the threats and has the tert and abily to rry them out.
The first issue that you will need to prove an asylum claim based on sexual orientatn is that you are lbian, bisexual, or gay. Asylum claims based on persecutn related to a lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr (LGBT) dividual's sexual orientatn are particularly difficult to file, argue, and w — even wh substantial evince of persecutn and ill-treatment. LGBT asylum trends the Uned Stat are closely lked wh the domtic polil, social, and legal climate surroundg gays and lbians.
GAY ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE 'HUIATN'
Though the climate has bee more acceptg of gays and lbians, some stat and loli still ban homosexual nduct. Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr dividuals have been subject to long-standg and strgent rtrictns agast entry to the Uned Stat. Some were victims of laws imposg extreme penalti — years of imprisonment, and even ath — for homosexualy.
(1) the foc on homosexual inty — not homosexual nduct — U.
Sce the Uned Stat self has laws that make homosexual nduct illegal, be difficult for asylum applints to argue they would receive aquate protectn here om siar laws their home untri. In one of the asylum petns to follow this precent-settg se, the Eighth Circu Court of Appeals nied the claim of Botswanan cizen Mareko Molathwa 2004, argug among other thgs that "homosexual nduct is crimal Botswana, as is some jurisdictns wh the Uned Stat.