Get ready to roll your eyes. A British judge has denied asylum to a man seeking refuge for being gay, apparently because he didn’t act effeminate enough.
Rehana Popal, the lawyer for the asylum seeker, attacked the move as one of stereotyping and homophobia. The name and origin of the asylum seeker have remained undisclosed.
According to Popal, the judge compared the man to previous asylum seekers, noting he wasn’t “wearing lipstick,” acting feminine or having a gay lisp. The judge apparently believed that queer men are inherently feminine, and believed since he had granted asylum to more effeminate men in the past, this new claimant couldn’t actually be gay. The judge also criticized the age difference between the claimant and his older boyfriend, who was granted asylum last month.
Related: British Home Office Talks Dirty to Gay Asylum Seekers
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“He has taken a stereotype, used it as a benchmark and compared my client to it,” Popal said to the Guardian. “That is totally wrong. You do not need to dress a certain way, carry yourself a certain way or look a certain way to be homosexual. The only thing that makes a person gay is if they are attracted to someone of the same gender.”
Popal has since successfully challenged the decision. An appeals court granted the man a second asylum hearing and criticized the previous judge in their ruling. A spokesperson for the British government noted that guidelines for granting asylum caution judges “not stereotype the behavior or characteristics of gay or bisexual persons.”
jami_h30
Well the judge sounds bit like the writers of queerty or any gay site for that matter.
LukeHill1389
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Rex Huskey
this is complicated
OzJosh
It’s not remotely complicated. It’s just an expression of the kind of narrow-minded bigotry you display in comments all the time.
controversial2019
To use stereotypes in a ruling is out of order.
I do, however, wonder what ‘tests’ or ‘thresholds’ could be put in place to ensure that only genuinely gay people at risk of persecution in their home country are granted asylum.
It would be relatively easy for someone wanting to live in the UK (or elsewhere) to falsify that they’re gay in order to claim asylum. So whilst saying; ‘Lisp? Lipstick?’ Isn’t the correct methodology, I do appreciate that finding a reasonable and non-discriminatory methodology must be hard. You can’t just believe them because they’ve said it.
Aj76
I totally agree with you….
You can’t just believe them just because they claim to be gay….
It’s a tough & interesting process on how they actually do prove it….
If anyone knows please let us know.
Cheers
Goforit
Ok children, let’s play a little game. Say you are a gay man from some random middle east country (or many other parts of the world) where even being accused of being gay can end in your death. You would do everything in your power to hide any stereotypical mannerisms for fear of death. That learned behavior would certainly carry over when seeking asylum. How many straight men do you know that would claim to be gay for ANY reason. Let alone one from the same regions knowing that if the judge in your new country did not believe you; death shurly awaited you upon your being returned to your home country. So, YES. With reasonable caution you can pretty much take them at their word.
jami_h30
OK, learned behavior like not wearing lipstick, acting feminine or having a lisp?
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
That judge is a vile bigoted puke…