El Salvadoran national JoaquÃn 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]
Rejection.
Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...
We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?
Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated
michael
Please do not think just because Canada has legalized Gay marriage that its some kind of “promised land” for GLBT. I have lived here for 3 years and I have seen things that are absolutely appalling. A gay man was beaten to death, here in Vancouver a few years ago with baseball bats. The longest sentence handed down was 6 years and the majority of the perpetrators, though they had been involved with gay bashing before, received no time at all. The schools have bullying problems equal to that of the states. I lived in the U.S. my entire life and never was I threatened, called a name or anything of the sort. Since I have moved to Vancouver I have been called every name in the book,
threatened with physical harm, just because I am gay. The police do not take gay bashing seriously here and its a big problem. While its better in someways here than the states its not as great as one may think.
Todd in Tegucigalpa
I can also attest to this guy’s fear of returning to his native El Salvador. I am an American and I have lived in Honduras, El Salvador’s next door neighbor, for a year now. All of the Central American country’s are alike in regard to their tolerance of GLBT people: it’s virtually non-existent. If this guy says he fears for his life, you can best believe that he knows what he’s talking about. San Salvador (the capital of El Salvador and its capital city) is a dangerous city, but the best city to be in if you’re gay in El Salvador. My heart goes out to this guy. I hope he lives to tell about returning to his life in El Salvador.