» Denial!
"A Guatemalan man who made up a story about political persecution to obtain asylum in the United States, then later said he had feared for his life because he is gay, lost his appeal for asylum Monday. Two judges with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said in an opinion filed Monday that it would be a 'manifest injustice' to allow Saul Martinez to benefit from gaming the system after he lied under oath. A third judge disagreed, arguing that it was easy to understand how a man who was persecuted because of his sexual orientation felt compelled to invent a story to escape from that persecution." [Mercury News] |
» Rejection.
El Salvadoran national Joaquín Ramirez - an HIV positive gay man - is set to return home Thursday after the Canadian government denied his asylum plea. Ramirez alleges that three federal cops beat and raped him prior to his great escape and he fears retribution if sent back. "…I am sure that I will be assassinated if I go back. There have been four men who have come to my sister's home in a car and have parked outside her house. They have asked my little niece if I had come back yet and they have also called my sister and told her that they were going to kill me." Canadian officials reportedly doubted Ramirez's claims. [Xtra] |
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» Disgusting.
Rather than granting gay Syrian refugee Jojo Jako Yakob asylum, the Scottish government offered him £46 to go back home, where he'll surely face violent discrimination. [Scotsman] |
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• A Paula Abdul dating show sounds like the perfect televised train wreck we've been waiting for. If there is a God, her dating pool will be filled exclusively with American Idol rejects. [Zap2it] • The DGA hearts Ang Lee. We'll soon find out how much the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sceinces loves Lee and Brobeback. Oscar noms are out tomorrow. [BBC]
• China does not heart Brokeback Mountain. [BBC] • A gay Colombian man, currently in Orlando, wants the U.S. to grant him political asylum because of increased homophobia in his native country. But is landing yourself in a state run by George Bush's bro really a step in the right direction? [Miami Herald] • Guy Ritchie will be best man at Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's wedding. We would be super-happy fags if Madonna somehow ends up godmother to the most beautiful baby in the world. [Digital Spy] |
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• Brokeback Mountain leads the Screen Actor's Guild awards with four nominations. Oscars, here we come. [ABC News] • Killing two birds with one stone, Andy Towle manages to create clever advertising for Brokeback Mountain and the perfect anti-smoking poster for homos at the same time. [Towleroad]
• Cherokee lesbians have been granted a marriage certificate, making them the first American Indian gays to get hitched in Cherokee Nation. [Reuters] • An article we linked to last week incorrectly reported that the U.S. does not offer asylum based on sexual orientation. Turns out our country is not that backward after all. [Immigration Equality] • Four gay men have been arrested in India for "perpetrating homosexual activities." So wrong and so Middle Ages. [News From Russia] |
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Spain, quickly becoming one of the most progressive countries in Europe, has proposed a new law that would grant political asylum to people fleeing from persecution in their home countries based on sexual orientation. If passed, Spain would join those other queer-marrying countries like Holland and Canada, who also grant asylum to persecuted gays. So does the U.S. offer such asylum? Um, not so much.
Kudos to Spain, the third country to allow full gay marriage. Let’s hope our country gets back in the business of being a world leader in progress and begins granting political asylum to gays that happen to be born in less fortunate places. Are you listening Dubya? |
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