ARTS AT NNRF

Sexual Cleansing

The World Health Organisation declassified homosexuality as a mental illness in 1990, yet it still remains a crime in Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Jordan, Afghanistan, Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria where same sex relationships are still punishable by death. Images of the public hangings in Iran of Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni in July 2005, have cast a spotlight on the particular plight of LGBT* Iranians. At least two Iranians committed suicide last year in UK detention camps, rather than face forcible return to Iran. One burned himself alive, the other shot himself. Both chose suicide rather than suffer deportation and probable execution by Iran's Ayatollahs.

Ali Hilli, a gay UK-based Iraqi refugee, coordinator of Iraqi LGBT, said recently that Iraqi police had been infiltrated by Shia extremists using police cover to kill gays and lesbians. Posing as gay men in an internet chat room, they kidnapped two gay students at gunpoint, forcing them into a desert-bound car boot, before violently attacking them. 'This is one of the most organized and systematic sexual cleansings in world history', he said.

Last year, a 29 year old Zimbabwean, Thando Dube, was near death, following a 33-day hunger strike in a UK detention camp. Her crime? Thando was a lesbian who fled to Britain to escape the well-known persecution of LGBT people in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

The Home Office is so blind to anti-LGBT persecution that it says a country like Jamaica is 'safe'. It fails many gay asylum applications, despite evidence from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that anti-gay attacks are widespread by thugs and within the police force itself.

Nothing can excuse the truly shameful abuse of all asylum seekers by the UK government. The Home Office is also failing LGBT refugees in five key areas: • No training on sexual orientation issues for asylum staff and adjudicators • No official policy supporting the right of refugees to claim asylum on the grounds of sexual orientation • No action to stamp out the abuse of LGBT refugees in UK asylum detention camps • No accurate, up-to-date information on the victimisation of LGBT people in violently homophobic countries • No adequate access to proper legal representation for LGBT asylum applicants.

The result is a frequent lack of sensitivity and understanding. There is no recognition of the fact that, in many cultures, people find it hard to talk openly about their sexuality. In some cultures, it is unacceptable to remain unmarried after a certain age, and many LGBT people who have been forced into marriage find adjudicators in the UK using this as evidence that they can't be gay.

This is not helped by translators who are from the same homophobic culture that the asylum claimant fled; many asylum officials are uncomfortable or dismissive about sexuality issues. Some are overtly homophobic. LGBT asylum seekers are left at the mercy of other inmates in prison. Some feel unable to accept advice and support from gay campaigners because they fear having their sexuality exposed.

Almost every LGBT asylum applicant is told 'to go home and be discrete'. The Home Office claims that if a gay person is less obvious about being gay or lesbian they wont attract the attention of their persecutors. Imagine the political storm if people fleeing religious persecution were told to avoid places of worship, not wear religious symbols or keep holy books, and not celebrate any festivals associated with their religion?

But there are small victories as well: One individual's courage, plus a high-profile campaign, led by Trade Unions, student, faith and LGBT organisations, contributed to a victory for one gay Ugandan Asylum Seeker, who won a Home Office battle to remain in this country. Moses Kayiza's arrival in May 2004, followed prolonged torture whilst in Ugandan police custody. He was threatened with deportation by the UK Government, became very ill and was hospitalised. A specialist law practice took up his case. 'Let My People Stay' - gained momentum with a 10,000-signature petition, presented to Parliament. In August 06, Moses was given indefinite leave to remain.

'Mariposa' is Spanish for 'butterfly' once a term of derision for 'homosexual', now re-appropriated by us as a badge of pride. The 'Butterfly Effect' has now become a potent metaphor in the world of human rights. Just three years' ago, the first International Day Against Homophobia was born of an idea by a Frenchman and happened without money or staff and already inspired protests in over fifty countries worldwide for gay equality. The last homophobic laws could be facing the possibility of extinction in the next decade.

In the UK, we are moving from persecution, to emancipation and towards acceptance, but despite the 'fluffy' veneer of civil partnership legislation, the UK reality is that gay hate crimes increased last year, including several brutal murders. Understandably, many LGBT people still feel uncomfortable in 'coming out' and at best, remain ambiguous about their sexuality. Until we secure basic human rights for all asylum-seeking LGBT people everywhere, we in this country are not fully free. But, in the words of Victor Hugo: 'Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come'. *Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people.

Richard McCance

(Thanks to Lesbian & Gay Humanist for permission to use extracts from several articles, Brett Lock and Peter Tatchell).