Davis Mac-Iyalla granted asylum

A Christian fleeing from Nigeria, where the Church supports anti-gay legislation, was granted asylum in the UK last Friday after receiving death threats.

Davis Mac-Iyalla, director of Changing Attitude Network (Nigeria), who left the country in 2006, said that he could now work in safety to further the welfare of other Nigerians who were lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual.

Mr Mac-Iyalla, who addressed a fringe meeting at the Lambeth Con­ference on Tuesday, said that he could introduce bishops who denied that there were any gay Africans to several homosexuals from Africa. Homosexuality had existed in Africa long before Westerners arrived, he said. “Homosexuality was known in Africa: what was not known was Chris­tianity. But the missionaries came and said it was a sin. It is not homosexuality that is a Western thing.”

The Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Revd Daniel Deng, had stated at the Conference that there were no gay people in Sudan, but, Mr Mac-Iyalla said, “there are African homo­sexuals here at the Lambeth Con­ference from Uganda, Ruanda, and Tan­zania, and we are all the same. We are no different from the Suda­nese. We are not a political organisation.”

In Nigeria, where being gay had been criminalised, it had become very difficult for homosexuals. “The Church should be protesting against the laws that criminalise homo­sexual­ity, and it should be offering churches as a safe place, instead of colluding with the government,” he said.

“Before Akinola became Arch­bishop, I had a number of bishops who knew me well and related to me, but because of Akinola they have had to suppress their views. The Nigerian bishops dare not even come to Lambeth, although many wanted to, for fear of what would happen to them. The one who did try had to go back, otherwise he would have been excommunicated or defrocked.

“If that’s what would happen to a bishop, can you image what would happen to a gay person?”

He had seen no African bishops at the fringe meeting, “African Day of Action”, that he had addressed. “They are more keen to speak than to listen. African bishops are avoiding the truth.”

Two years ago he had been de­nounced by the present Bishop of Ife in a press release, after he had said that he was gay and Anglican. “But we exist, and we are part of the Church and not strangers to the Church, contrary to what the African bishops are saying.

“I think God is helping us. No­body would have thought then that gay Anglicans could come out and tell their stories.”

Source: Churchtimes

Mentoring for LGBT Asylum Seekers in the UK

A new Facebook group has been set up to develop a mentoring scheme for LGBT Asylum Seekers in the UK, "in view of what many LGBT people suffer throughout the world on account of their sexual orientation".

Alongside campaigning for rights it is vital to make LGBT asylum seekers feel welcome and experience a friendly reception from British LGBT people. That is why mentoring is so important.

Join the group

Resolution for LiberalDemocrat Annual Conference

The LiberalDemocrat LGBT members group, DELGA, have submitted a motion on LGBT asylum seekers to the annual conference and this has been accepted for debate.

The motion reads:

FP4 Deportation To States Which Persecute on the Grounds Of Sexuality and Gender Identity

Conferences notes:

a) A number of recent cases in which lesbians and gay men have been deported or threatened with deportation to countries, including Iran and Nigeria, where homosexuality is treated as a crime punishable by sentences including the death penalty.
b) That the British Government has argued it would be acceptable for a lesbian or gay person to be deported to a homophobic state, as long as that individual behaved in a 'discreet' manner.
c) That the UK is a signatory to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which prohibits torture, and the transfer, return or expulsion of persons to countries where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture.

Conference reaffirms the commitment in the preamble to the Liberal Democrat constitution that our responsibility for justice and liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries; we are committed to fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services.

Conference believes that:

1. Everyone should be treated equally under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification.
2. The suggestion that individuals should behave 'discreetly' to guarantee protection from harm is, in the 21st century, an inappropriate message for the British Government to send to the countries concerned and their people.

Conference therefore calls on the Government to halt the deportation of people to countries where their sexual orientation or gender identification may mean that they are threatened with the risk of imprisonment, torture, or even execution.

Applicability: Federal.

CURRY NIGHT for BABI BADALOV

On the evening of Monday 28th of july evening friends and supporters of Babi Badalov got together for a curry and a chat about how the campaign is going. The appeal against the rejection of Babi’s asylum application was recently dismissed. This means he is in a state of legal limbo and may be subject to detention or deportation. However Babi’s solicitor is filing a fresh claim for asylum. Considering what faces him in Azerbaijan, being granted asylum should be a formality, however the reality in the 21st Century UK means it’s far from that.

Please take time to help Babi’s campaign, sending letters to Jacqui Smith, the local media and telling everyone you know about his situation and encourage them to do the same. There has been more coverage of the campaign online from Therion, Global Voices Online, Caravan23 and Pinknews.

News of Babi’s campaign has also reached Azerbaijan and hit the headlines there. Making it even more dangerous for him to be forcibly sent back. The Home Office regularly deports people that it accepts have been persecuted because of their sexuality, stating that they should go and live in another part of the country and hide their sexuality. Such inhumane treatment shouldn’t have to be endured by anyone. For Babi, such a proposal was even less viable because of his visibility as a well known artist, and now that his sexuality has been made so public, living a life hiding in the shadows would be an absolute impossibility.

Amongst the supporters of Babi’s campaign who came for a curry were Kemi, Taiwo and their baby Yasim. They still have the threat of deportation hanging over them and still need your support.