Canada deports Mexican lesbian

Source: Toronto Star

By Noel Grzetic

A gay woman who fled to Toronto was deported to Mexico 20 December, despite her claims of persecution there because of her sexual orientation.

Brenda Garcia, 30, was deported around 5:30 a.m. and was allowed a brief visit with her brother before she left.

“I told her I loved her and that if I could get status here I would send for her,” said Daniel Garcia, speaking in Spanish in a phone interview with the Toronto Star.

Daniel, a Grade 11 student at Parkdale Collegiate Institute, fled to Toronto with his sister. He was detained 30 December and is awaiting a deportation hearing of his own [he was removed 1 January].

According to Daniel, Brenda Garcia was unhappy that she was being forced to return to the country where they experienced verbal and physical harassment.

“Once we were eating, a group of people began to throw stuff at our house and we had to lock ourselves in the bathroom,” said Daniel, who lived with his sister and her girlfriend in the district of Xochimilco, about 15 km from Mexico City’s centre.

Brenda Garcia’s girlfriend was later gunned down and killed in their home in the middle of the night.