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Showing posts with label nicaragua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nicaragua. Show all posts
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Monday, 20 June 2011
In Canada, a campaign stops one gay man's removal but "prepare for more fights"
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| Alvaro Orozco |
By Jackie Esmonde and Nadia Saad
It is rare in these times that we can celebrate a victory such as Alvaro Orozco's return home to his Toronto community on June 1, after several weeks in immigration detention.
A vibrant community member, queer activist, and artist, Alvaro is no stranger to struggle. Fleeing his native Nicaragua at age 12 after receiving homophobic death threats, he eventually arrived in Canada in 2005. Any illusions he may have had that Canada was a place of safety were quickly dispelled by the denial of his refugee application. The grounds for the denial were unabashedly homophobic: Alvaro just did not look "gay" enough to justify his assertion that he feared for his life in Nicaragua.
Alvaro was not defeated. By 2011 he had won numerous awards for his artwork and had contributed much to Toronto's queer community. Nonetheless, he had been waiting three years for a response to his "Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds" (H&C) application. His case came to a head on May 13, when Toronto police officers approached him outside Ossington Station and demanded that he prove that he had status. Claims that this police stop was random (rather than motivated by racial and gender profiling) defy belief. Alvaro was subsequently detained and a deportation date set for June 2.
The response from the community was immediate. Two weeks of around-the-clock grassroots organizing, rallies, press conferences, petitions and outpourings of support succeeded in delaying his deportation date by one week - just enough time for the positive response to his H&C application.
Harper's anti-immigrant agenda
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Gay Nicaraguan wins asylum fight in Canada
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| Alvaro Orozco |
“Thank you. To all the people that signed petitions, that came out to rallies, all the organizations that have supported me, Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The detention centre is still full, with kids and families. It's not fair. It's not fair that police are working with immigration to arrest people. We need change now. I hope that people in the community will continue to fight for justice for immigrants and refugees.”
Alvaro Orozco, May 31, 2011Source: xtra.ca
After spending almost a month in a detention centre awaiting deportation, Alvaro Orozco will be able to stay in Canada, according to those close to him. The Nicaraguan-born gay artist was granted a stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds May 31.
That means that Orozco can begin the process of becoming a permanent resident. And after that, he will be free to apply to become a Canadian citizen if he so chooses.
Orozco told Suhail Abualsameed this afternoon that he would have a detention review June 1, in which he would be informed of the approval of his application to stay in Canada.
"He couldn't continue speaking," Abualsameed remembers. "It's overwhelming... it's like a miracle.”Abualsameed credits the application's success to the activist presence that supported Orozco. "The work we've done... created an urgency within immigration to actually look at this application," he says.
The news came after members of the queer and Latino communities held three demonstrations within the span of a single week.
Until news broke that his humanitarian application had been accepted, activists worried that he would be deported before his application was considered.
Orozco has not yet been released from the detention centre.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Video: In Canada, campaign steps up, dances to save gay Nicaraguan
Press conference of friends and supporters of Alvaro Orozco, a gay Nicaraguan refugee who was seized by Canadian authorities 13 May, detained and could be removed at any time.
Alvaro first rose to national prominence in 2007 when his asylum claim was denied on the basis that he did not look “gay enough” for the adjudicator hearing his case via a television screen in Calgary.
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| Alvaro Orozco |
Alvaro, now 25 and established as an artist in Toronto, is still waiting for a decision on his Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) application.
Friends and supporters of Alvaro are having to move quickly to stay his deportation - they are holding a demonstration in Toronto today - however there are concerns that the government is also moving quickly to remove him.
On Saturday 21 May a 'dancemob' shut down an intersection in Toronto in support of Alvaro.
Let Alvaro Stay Campaign
- facebook.com/letalvarostay
- letalvarostay@gmail.com
- YouTube - Includes video of 16 friends of Alvaro testifying for him.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
In Canada, gay Nicaraguan artist threatened with removal
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| Alvaro Orozco |
At 8pm on the evening of 13 May, award-winning undocumented queer artist Alvaro Orozco was arrested on his way to dinner with friends. Now in detention at the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre, he faces imminent deportation to Nicaragua.
An accomplished artist and dedicated advocate for queer and newcomer youth, Alvaro’s love for art and commitment to community has captured the appreciation and respect of thousands of people in Toronto. He received the 2010 Street-Level Advocate Award from the Toronto Youth Cabinet and City of Toronto in recognition of his work with queer and newcomer youth.
Alvaro first rose to national prominence in 2007 when his refugee claim was denied on the basis that he did not look “gay enough” for the adjudicator hearing his case via a television screen in Calgary.
This story was picked up by the largest newspapers in Nicaragua, effectively “outing” him to the entire country he left at age 12 due to severe physical abuse by a father who threatened to “kill any child of his that was homosexual.”
Alvaro, now 25, is still waiting for a decision on his Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) application.
Friends and supporters of Alvaro are meeting to move quickly to stay his deportation. It is critical that we keep this strong voice in our community.
Alvaro’s Accomplishments & Exhibits
- Volunteer/Mentor with Supporting Our Youth (SOY)Let Alvaro Stay Campaign
- Mayworks Festival, Toronto, 2011
- Toronto Youth Cabinet, 2010 Identify & Impact Awards, Street-Level Advocate Award Winner
- Migrant Expressions Photography Exhibition, Montreal, 2009
- Under the Bridge Art Exhibition, Toronto, 2009
- Jumblies Theatre, Prop-Maker and Photographer, Toronto, 2009
- Refugee Rights Day, Toronto City Hall, Toronto, 2008
- ArtWherk Collective 2007, Pride Art Exhibition, Toronto, 2007
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Nicaragua: Sexual diversity in the national blogosphere
Image by qthomasbower via Flickr By Rodrigo Penalba · Translated by Silvia Viñas
The recent debate on legalizing same-sex marriage, as seen through traditional media (see poll in newspaper El Nuevo Diario [es]), has brought to light the opinion of those who oppose the measure, including politicians and even some pro-government and pro-sexual diversity movements [es]; however, the opinion of groups that are already organized around these issues is rarely taken into consideration.
Several Nicaraguan blogs are enriching the debate and the information on these issues. This is a selection of blogs that are currently participating in and pushing for sexual diversity:
- Comunidad Homosexual de Nicaragua - CHN: (Homosexual Community of Nicaragua-CHN) “The blog of the most rebel LGBTI community in Nicaragua! We are only satisfied with the truth! ‘And you shall know the truth…and the truth will make you free…”
- Asociación Nicaragüense de Transgenera: (Transgender Nicaraguan Association) “From and for Transgenders opening the way in a world that attacks our rights”
- Espacio por la Diversidad Sexual (Space for Sexual Diversity) since 2007, based in Carazo: “We are a group of gay youth from Carazo who aspire for social change, through the recognition and respect of different sexual orientations and gender and sexual identities”
- El Grupo Safo: Doblemente mujer (Group Safo: Double the woman) focuses on diversity from a lesbian point of view. This is an interview in the blog Cristianos Gays [es] (Gay Christians) and a video of their work:
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Gay tourism: Has cheapflights.co.uk just slandered four countries?
One of the UK's top travel websites, cheapflights UK, has issued a press release about the best and the worst places for LGBT tourists.
There's little surprise that top of their list of the worst places for the gays to visit is Jamaica and their PR made the news in Jamaica, whose press seems concerned about its image abroad but constantly rehashes claims by Jamaican police that actually the problem is those 'batty boys' bashing each other, the phrase 'lover's tiffs' being a constant.
Cheapflights 'top five' also includes Fiji, Poland, Nicaragua and Mauritius. Their PR makes reference to sodomy laws but homosexuality is only illegal in Jamaica and, kind of, Mauritius. Some of the other countries have - legally speaking at least - been far more advanced than either the USA, which got rid of sodomy laws through a Supreme Court decision in 2003 or the UK which only adopted anti-discrimination in employment and services law in 2007.
'Worst places to visit', really?
Take Fiji for example. This was one of only
One of the common sources for information on otherwise ignored countries like Fiji is GlobalGayz. That carries two negative and one positive story about being gay in Fiji. A Fijian wrote to them seeing the negative stories saying "I definitely don’t agree about these negative views about Fiji and how they deal with gays."
He did say that "in the small village areas here I would advise visitors to be cautious due to cultural sensitivity. Fijian villages are very conservative and respected places therefore I believe it is fair to show mutual respect to village beliefs and traditions." And the removal of all remaining vestiges of discrimination in criminal codes by the Fijian government since 1 February this year did cause the Women’s Action for Change group in Fiji to express concern over a possible violent public backlash.
The Foreign Office does not provide country-specific travel information and the company told me that "the research was done through Cheapflights editors and obtained from various online sources. It wasn't specific user feedback."
Well according to numerous online sources, Fiji hosts a number of 'gay-friendly' resorts.
Having a (monthly) ball in Mauritius
Although, according to ILGA, a sodomy law remains on the books in Mauritius, there is also an active gay movement represented by the Mauritian LGBTI organisation, Collectif Arc-en-ciel. There have been Pride marches and there has been serious discussion around anti-discrimination laws with the government including sexual orientation in its 2008 discrimination bill.
Image by KhayaL via FlickrWednesday, 7 February 2007
Nicaraguan man denied Canadian asylum for not having teenage sex
Image by erjkprunczyk via FlickrA refugee from Nicaragua has been denied asylum in Canada because he could not prove he is gay.
The Immigration and Refugee Board said that as Alvaro Antonio Orozco was not sexually active as a teenager, it was impossible to verify his sexuality.
Mr Oroxco’s lawyer accused the IRB of stereotyping gay teenagers as more sexually active than their heterosexual counterparts.
The case has raised questions about how a refugee can “prove” their sexual orientation.
“I think the decision shows a lack of understanding of issues facing queer kids from homophobic cultures and what they have to deal with in terms of gender stereotypes,” El-Farouk Khaki told the Globe and Mail newspaper.
Mr Orozco, now 21, fled Nicaragua when he was 12 years old, hitchhiked to the Mexican/American border, nearly drowned swimming across the Rio Grande, spent a year in a detention centre and took refuge with a Seventh Day Adventist group.
He came to Canada two years ago because he thought the country was more accepting of gay refugees.
His home country of Nicaragua criminalised gay relationships in 1992, and gay people fear for their lives in the violently macho culture.
Mr Orozco told the IRB tribunal that his father had beaten him for being gay from an early age, which prompted him to run away.
But IRB member Deborah Lamont was unconvinced by the Nicaraguan.
“I found the claimant’s many explanations unsatisfactory for why he chose not to pursue same-sex relationships in the U.S. as he alleged it was his intention to do so and he wanted to do so,” she ruled, according to the Globe and Mail.
“He is not a homosexual . . . and fabricated the sexual orientation component to support a non-existent claim for protection in Canada.”
The case highlights the problems that many gay refugees face in proving their sexuality.
Mr Orozco’s lawyer argues that as his client is alone, uneducated and the victim of abuse he should be treated as a vulnerable person.
“We are asking the immigration minister to grant him a stay of removal on humanitarian grounds and allow him to stay,” Mr. Khaki said.
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