Bisexuals need not apply: A comparative appraisal of refugee law and policy in Canada, the United States, and Australia

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By Sean Rehaag, Osgoode Hall Law School

This paper offers an analysis of refugee claims on grounds of bisexuality. After discussing the grounds on which sexual minorities may qualify for refugee status under international refugee law, the paper empirically assesses the success rates of bisexual refugee claimants in three major host states: Canada, the United States, and Australia. It concludes that bisexuals are significantly less successful than other sexual minority groups in obtaining refugee status in those countries. Through an examination of selected published decisions involving bisexual refugee claimants, the author identifies two main areas for concern that may partly account for the difficulties that bisexual refugee claimants encounter: the invisibility of bisexuality as a sexual identity, and negative views held by some refugee claims adjudicators towards bisexuality as well as the reluctance of some adjudicators to grant refugee status to sexual minorities who differ from gay and lesbian identities as traditionally understood.

Bisexuals Need Not Apply: A Comparative Appraisal of Refugee Law and Policy in Canada, the United States, a...

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A Nigerian who's "queer till I quench", but can't go back to the 'motherland'

Source: BellaNaija.com

By Z Emezi

In Africa, when we see any news or read any stories on LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transsexual) people, it is usually an analytical piece either from a religious, sociological  or even psychological analytic perspective. Sometimes we see “undercover” pieces where reporters visit a hidden gay bar or church. When Z approached us to share her story, it struck a chord. A young lady, living her life and now she shares her story with BellaNaija.com

“Ah, ah, now. Why won’t you give me your number? See how Naija girls like to play hard to get!” I’m being chatted up by a Yoruba guy in a Nigerian restaurant I used to work at in Brooklyn, and although I’m trying to politely brush him off, it’s not doing much good.

“Me, I no dey play hard to get,” I counter. “This one na impossible to get.” He scoffs and continues trying to persuade me, until I hit him with the final blow.

“I don’t date men.” Omo, I wish I could have captured the stunned disbelief on his face. In fact, he refused to believe me, stating that he had never met a gay African before, let alone a Nigerian. I’m aware that we are mostly a silent closeted demographic, and meeting an out queer Nigerian is like happening upon a museum-worthy specimen. I grew up in Aba until I finished secondary school, and I never met a single gay Nigerian or heard my friends ever mention it (I also went to a private day school instead of the all girls boarding school my father wanted to put me in…perhaps my experience of gay Nigerians would have been different otherwise).

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Flight cancelled for Baffour Obeng

By Simon Lewis

Ghanaian asylum seeker Baffour Obeng was due to be removed on Sunday, until he received a fax on Thursday from the Home Office. It said that his ticket back to Ghana has been cancelled and his case would be looked at again.

It could only have been the campaign generated by the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns which secured the cancellation. Petitions, letters and emails to the Home Office appear to have made it reconsider its position that that "the independent courts found that the claim was totally without merit".

The news was welcomed by his aunt Pauline Boachie, who lives in Edmonton Green, North London. She said: "We need to say thank you to all the people. A lot of people have been really helpful."

But, said Pauline, "The battle is not over." The Home Office have said that a new decision is imminent, but at the moment Baffour is without representation and needs to secure legal aid. Baffour is still being detained at Colnbrook detention centre at Heathrow and could recieve as little as 72 hours warning if he gets another removal order.

Baffour, 23, is bisexual, and has been abandoned by much of his family. In Ghana homosexuality is against the law and a recent march suggests that anti-gay sentiment is rising in the country, as elsewhere in West Africa.

Baffour has received specific warnings that his life is in danger if he returns, but he was told by the Home Office to move to another part of Ghana and be discreet about his sexuality. In light of the coalition government's commitment to stop deporting people fleeing persecution for their sexuality, and a pending Supreme Court decision, Baffour could become a test case for a new approach to LGBT asylum.

• More information on how you can help Baffour

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• Gay asylum seekers need sanctuary, not secrecy (guardian.co.uk)