Call for Immigration Canada to stop the deportation of gay refugee claimants who are living with HIV and face extreme violence if sent home!
To show support for Herberth and call for him to stay, friends of Herbeth, concerned community members, Latinos Positivos and AIDS ACTION NOW! will be holding a support vigil of at Yonge and Dundas Square on November 8, 2011 at 6pm.
Herberth Menendez is a 30 year old Mexican citizen who immigrated to Canada in 2007. He left Mexico to claim refugee status in Canada because he feared for his life due to the intense discrimination and threats of physical violence he faced for being openly gay and living with HIV. Despite having submitted detailed proof of the homophobia and HIV discrimination he has faced in Mexico, Herberth is currently in the final stages of his Pre-Removal Risk Assessment Application. His lawyer has told him there is very little likelihood of his application will be accepted.
Canada has a record of deporting immigrants from many Spanish speaking countries, including Mexico, despite the fact that they have proof they will face violence in their home country if they return.The Mexican Government continues to put up a façade for Canada that homophobic murders do not take place there. However, we sadly hear of cases very often where gay men have been assassinated in Mexico for their sexual orientation or HIV status.
Herberth left Mexico to escape persecution from his neighbors and his own father because he was openly gay and is living with HIV. He was thrown out of his family home by his father and told never to return or he would personally kill him. When Herberth found out he was HIV positive, he suffered discrimination by friends and family and dealt with the intense stigma that exists in the medical community when he sought out health care in Mexico. Nurses and doctors would disclose his HIV-positive status without Herberth’s consent in front of other patients in the clinic without any conscious effort of respecting his confidentiality.
Herberth came to Canada to try and get support and leave a climate of fear and stigma he faced in Mexico. In Toronto, he found Latinos Positivos, an organization dedicated to supporting members of the Latin community who are living with HIV. Members of Latinos Positivos have now become Herberth’s family in Canada. He has volunteered for Latinos Positivos since his arrival and in 2011, Herberth’s drag persona Ashanti Silman was crowned Miss Latinos Positivos. In this role, Herberth has performed at and supported several fundraisers for the organization and helped raise funds for and awareness of their programming. Most recently he contributed efforts towards the production of a pamphlet about HIV and stigma in the Latin community with the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples and Latinos Positivos.
- For more information on how to help Herberth please contact: aidsactionnowtoronto@gmail.com
- Email you concern to Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenny: Minister@cic.gc.ca and to the Ontario Minister of Citizen and Immigration, Charles Sousa: csousa.mpp@liberal.ola.org
- Latinos Positivos aims to help empower Latino People Living with HIV and AIDS to move beyond their diagnosis and establish a supportive and accepting Latino community within the AIDS movement.
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, WOW WHO WILL EVE BELIEVE THAT I WILL BE THIS HAPPY TODAY, AFTER MANY YEARS OF PAIN LIVING WITH HIV VIRUS. MY NAME IS STEPHEN LIVE IN UNITED KINGDOM. IT ALL HAPPEN FEW YEARS BACK WHEN I DISCOVERED THAT MY SYSTEM IS NO LONGER FUNCTIONING WELL, SO I DECIDED TO GO FOR MEDICAL CHECKUP ALL TO DISCOVERED THAT I HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH HIV POSITIVE VIRUS AND I NEVER NOTICE IT FOR A VERY LONG TIME. AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT OF TIME I WANTED TO GIVE UP MY LIFE, BUT WHEN I WENT THROUGH THE INTERNET TO READ MORE ABOUT HIV VIRUS, I FOUND OUT THAT THIS VIRUS IS DISGUSTING BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. GOD SO HAVE IT THAT I HARD ABOUT THIS SIMPLE WONDERFUL AND GOD SENT HERBAL DR CALLED DR AKHIGBE THE SAME DAY I WANTED TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING BECAUSE I FEEL LIFE WAS NO LONGER IMPORTANT TO ME, MANY THINGS HAPPENED BUT TO CUT THE STORY SHORT, I AM HIV NEGATIVE NOW, AND EVER SINCE I WAS CURED THERE IS NO OUTBREAK EVERYTHING HAS GONE BACK TO NORMAL AND I BELIEVE AM THE HAPPIEST PERSON ON EARTH TODAY. DR AKHIGBE NEVER ASK ME TO TESTIFY FOR HIM, I DECIDED TO DO THIS MY WAY SO THAT AS MANY THAT WILL BELIEVE AND CONTACT HIM WILL BE FREE FROM THIS DEADLY DISEASE. THIS VIRUS IS SPREADING EVERYDAY SO LET PUT OUR HANDS TOGETHER TO SAVE LIFE. BUT I KNOW MANY ARE YET TO DISCOVERED THAT THEY ARE LIVING WITH THIS VIRUS. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE MOST CRITICAL VIRUS, YOU CAN LIVE WITH IT FOR MANY YEARS AND YOU WILL NEVER NOTICE IT. WELL AM SO HAPPY TODAY ESPECIALLY WHEN MY LOST LOVE IS BACK AND WE ARE GETTING MARRIED SOON. SO MY DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN LET PUT OUR HANDS TOGETHER TO SAVE AS MANY WE CAN BY SHARING THIS TESTIMONY SO THAT THOSE THAT DONT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CURE THEIR DISEASE WILL BE CURED AND BE HAPPY FOREVER, SO YOU CAN CONTACT HIM THROUGH HIS EMAIL ADDRESS, WHATSAPP NUMBER AND WEBSITE AS FOLLOWED. drrealakhigbe@gmail.com +2348142454860. http:drrealakhigbe.weebly.com
ReplyDeleteHE CAN ALSO CURE THE FOLLOWING AND AM A LIVING TESTIMONY TO IT.
DIABETES
HIV
PREGNANCY PROBLEM
HERPES
ALS
CANCER
CONTACT HIM TODAY AND YOUR LIFE WILL NEVER REMAIN THE SAME AGAIN, AM PROUD OF YOU DR AKHIGBE