Sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTI)

Click here for LGBTI resources listed by country

Resource persons: Dr Eddie A. Bruce-Jones and Denise Venturi

Dr Eddie A. Bruce-Jones

Email: eddiebrucejones@gmail.com

Dr Bruce-Jones serves on the Board of Directors of the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group and the Institute of Race Relations. He is a Lecturer in Law at the University of London, Birkbeck College School of Law, where he teaches European Union Law, Equality Law, Culture & Human Rights, and Critical Migration Law. He was previously Visiting Lecturer in Public International Law at King’s College London School of Law and a research affiliate at the Institute for European Ethnology at Humboldt University in Berlin. Bruce-Jones has acted pro-bono on cases involving international and human rights law in Europe and the United States.

Denise Venturi

Email: d.venturi@sssup.it

Denise Venturi is a PhD Candidate in International Law and Human Rights at Scuola Sant’Anna (Italy) and KU Leuven (Belgium). Her doctoral research focuses on LGBTI asylum seekers in the context of the Common European Asylum System. Denise holds a European Asylum System. Denise holds a European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation from EIUS (Venice) and KU Leuven, a Postgraduate Degree in Asylum Law and a degree in law from the University of Florence. Previously she has worked as an immigration and criminal defence lawyer in Italy. She also served as a pro-bono lawyer in cases related to asylum and migration law. In 2014 she was a legal intern at PICUM Brussels, working on undocumented migrants’ rights. Denise is a Doctoral Affiliate of the Refugee Law initiative and a member of Asilo in Europa, an Italian association focusing on asylum and refugee law in Europe. She also collaborates with Altrodiritto (an Italian NGO delating with migrants and prisoners’ rights) and MigraBo LGBTQI, an association providing support to LGBTQI asylum seekers in Italy.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Refugees

Introduction

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex* (LGBTI) people are forced to lead lives of silence in many, if not most, places in the world. LGBTI identity and non-conformist sexual activity may be punished in many countries by torture and death. Today, an increasing number of LGBTI-identified people are unwilling or unable to exist in this state of fear and try to escape their persecution by seeking asylum in foreign states. While there are legitimate and winnable claims for LGBTI people to gain refugee status under the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter: “the Geneva Convention”), many states do not recognize the perils faced by LGBTI people and send them back to their country of origin, where they face persecution. Other states grant applicants residency permission on humanitarian grounds rather than the asylum grounds covered by the Geneva Convention.

* Intersex is a word adopted to criticize conventional approaches to sex or gender assignment and refers to people with intermediate or atypical combinations of biological features that conventionally define “males” and “females” (including but not limited to sexual organs or chromosomes).

Overview

Over the past two decades, with the emergence of a discourse of general social and legal acceptance of LGBTI people in Western Europe, Australia and North America, the number of people seeking asylum on the grounds of persecution based on their LGBTI identity or lifestyles has steadily risen. A significant amount of asylum case law has been produced with regard to LGBTI applicants. For a short but comprehensive summary of comparative case law and the basic argument structure required for bringing sustainable LGBTI asylum claims, see the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, ELENA Research Paper on Sexual Orientation as a Ground for Recognition of Refugee Status, available at  http://www.ecre.org/component/downloads/downloads/144.html

There are two main Geneva Convention grounds upon which LGBTI applicants have based their claims:  “particular social group” and “political opinion” grounds. The most important and most frequently argued ground in this regard is membership in a “particular social group” or PSG. This ground is a catch-all for groups not explicitly covered in the five other Geneva Convention grounds, and case law in a significant number of countries regards sexual minorities as constituting a group for the purposes of fitting under PSG grounds. The second ground, having potential for future claims but with less historical precedent, is “political opinion”. This ground ostensibly allows for claims based on political opinions held or perceived to be held particularly by LGBTI claimants (including but not limited to the opinion that LGBTI people should enjoy equal rights).

After LGBTI applicants prove that they are covered by one of the two applicable grounds under the Geneva Convention, they must prove that they face persecution. To bring a claim of asylum, LGBTI applicants must first prove that they were themselves victims of persecution based on their sexual identity or related political opinions. One of the biggest obstacles to proving persecution and winning LGBTI asylum claims is the argument that one need not reveal one’s identity as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual or intersex; that is, if one leads a double life, keeping sexuality private, s/he protects her/himself from the threat of persecution to a large extent. This argument presumes that leading a double life is possible and that applicants are sufficiently shielded from persecution if they merely mute their sexuality. However, in practice, publicly proclaiming heterosexuality or gender conformity does not prevent so-called “witch-hunts”, harassment on the basis of rumoured homosexuality, or eventual discovery of an immaculately hidden private life.

LGBTI asylum claims should be supplemented by country reports, documenting abuse of others on the basis of their sexual identity. This is particularly true in cases where the initial abuse of the applicant may not have risen to the level of persecution. The abuse documented in country reports must rise to the level of persecution and must be systematic to be persuasive. Country reports allow applicants to argue that they will be in danger when they return to their home countries by constituting persuasive evidence that, since their sexual identity has previously been discovered, they will be imprisoned, tortured or killed upon return. The country reports also serve to support the proposition that LGBTI applicants are members of a “particular social group” as identified as such by the persecutors and/or the state.

Recent Developments in Issues Concerning LGBTIQ+ Refugees: A Global Perspective

LGBTIQ+ people face both generalized and unique vulnerabilities that cause many to leave their country of origin and seek refuge in another. Consensual same-sex conduct remains criminalized in many countries, and as many as 11 countries could impose the death penalty if convicted. Research shows that many LGBTIQ+ people face persecution and violence, including domestic violence, rape, and murder, as well as discrimination in areas like education, employment, housing, and healthcare.

In 2019, UNHCR and the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities issued a joint statement urging States and other refugee protection actors to recognize and respond appropriately to the unique vulnerability and specific needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and gender-diverse (LGBTIQ+) refugees, asylum seekers and other forcibly displaced persons.

Compared to general migrant populations, migrants with diverse Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) are often at additional risk of abuse, discrimination or reduced access to services during transit because of their identity, both from cisgender, heteronormative forced migrants, and authorities or locals, particularly if their identity is inadvertently revealed.

In recent decades, the number of LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum-seekers has risen. The Global Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for LGBTIQ+ people in forced displacement was organized by UNHCR and the United Nations Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in June 2021 over the course of 3 weeks. It convened more than 500 people from around the world, including representatives from governments, civil society and the private sector and LGBTIQ+ people who have experienced displacement. Together they discussed experiences, policies and programmes that have worked as well as ways to implement solutions. The objective of the roundtable was to track the progress made in protection and solutions responses to forced displacement, identify current challenges faced by LGBTIQ+ people in the displacement cycle, share good practices, facilitate exchange, networking and coalition-building among a broad, multi-stakeholder constituency of allies and identify priority areas for further collaborative action.

Developments across different jurisdictions

Suppression of LGBTIQ+ rights in USA

The US government under former president Donald J. Trump sought to push back against rights claims related to sexual orientation and gender identity, sending a dangerous signal to governments around the world that such rights are disposable. It established a Commission on Unalienable Rights (CUR), framed as a corrective to a so-called “proliferation of rights.” The commission set out to distinguish between fundamental and so-called extraneous rights, creating a false hierarchy in which women’s rights and LGBT rights were at the bottom rung and property and religious rights at the top. In short, the CUR sought to create a US blueprint for rights at odds with principles of universality and indivisibility. The CUR was formed in the context of a roll back of LGBT rights in the US under the banner of religious exemptions, most notably a systematic attack on the rights of transgender people.

In one retort to the Trump administration’s attempts to circumscribe rights, the US Supreme Court declared that federal law bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It interpreted reference to “sex” in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate in employment on various grounds, as inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, in a ruling with far-reaching implications for other non-discrimination protections, in the US and potentially elsewhere. Any ambiguity in the existing law would be dispelled if the US Congress reintroduces and passes the 2019 Equality Act, a bill passed by the US House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate, and which expressly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in education, housing, public spaces, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service.

Congressional Democrats and the administration of Joseph R. Biden have both signaled their intention to prioritize the bill this session. Given that so many important advances have been made through the US courts, the appointment of three conservative judges to the US Supreme Court, and dozens to federal courts throughout the country, is a concern for the enduring protection of LGBT rights in the US. A ruling on Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which asks whether Philadelphia may require agencies to abide by its nondiscrimination policy and place foster kids with same-sex couples, is expected in 2021 and will serve as a bellwether for court protection of LGBT people’s rights.

On December 11, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice published the final text of a rule amending laws governing the U.S. asylum process. On January 8, 2021, the rule was enjoined by a federal judge, but if enforced has the potential to impact the ability of LGBTIQ+ asylum claimants to seek relief. First, the new rule excludes “gender” as an admissible claim for membership in a particular social group. This could allow an immigration judge to deny asylum claims linked to persecution fears on the basis of gender identity. The rule also narrows the definition of “political opinion” as a basis for credible fear, limiting to cases of seeking “regime change” and thus excluding the possibility of protection where LGBT activism leads to persecution. Finally, the rule alters the definition of persecution to require the infliction of severe harm constituting an “exigent threat.” This would alter the legal threshold to exclude the cumulative harm of violence, stigma, and discrimination from family, state, and non-state actors that many LGBTIQ+ people face.

Trans Issues Debated in UK’s Political Landscape

The United Kingdom has become a vocal battleground over trans rights, as an unusual alliance of social conservatives, some feminists and their supporters on the left have aligned in disavowing transgender identity, based on an essentialist view of gender as immutable, and presenting it as a threat to women and children, and the protection of women and trans people’s rights as a zero sum game. In December 2021, the High Court ruled that children under 16 could not consent to drugs known as puberty blockers, designed to give trans identified youth time to decide on gender transition by delaying the onset of puberty. Puberty blockers are part of the standard of care for trans youth in several countries including the Netherlands and the US. A former patient had brought suit against the Tavistock clinic, the only National Health Service gender clinic, saying she had not been adequately assessed by the clinic before being placed on puberty blockers and now regretted her subsequent decision to transition.

The case occurs in a politically charged environment in which some groups are pushing back against trans inclusion, to the detriment of trans youth who are particularly vulnerable, with limited treatment options. In this case, the court unfairly singles out transgender care for heightened scrutiny, a particularly significant blow after the conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed meaningfully to amend the Gender Recognition Act in response to trans groups’ demands for a rights-respecting path to legal gender recognition, a move the previous Conservative government had promised. It is likely that trans issues will remain at the center of ongoing culture wars, in the UK and elsewhere. In politically charged times those perceived to embody ambiguity are invariably singled out for heightened scrutiny.

Anti-LGBTIQ+ Sentiment in parts of Europe

In Poland and Hungary, hard right conservative governments stoked anti-LGBT sentiment in the name of family values, obscuring the real objective: a distraction from their anti-democratic power grabs. In additional to anti-trans legislation, Hungary banned adoptions by same sex couples, while Poland’s president likened LGBT to an ideology worse than communism, signed a “Family Charter” pledging to block gay marriage, adoption by same sex couples, and the teaching on LGBT issues in schools, and also encouraged the increasing numbers of local authorities declaring themselves to be “LBGT free” zones.

Other Global Trends

Unscientific forced anal exams are performed in many countries like Egypt, that can rise to the level of torture: medical practitioners in Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka, among others, were complicit in performing them in 2020.

2021 saw a growing international momentum for an end to conversion therapy, the practice of attempting to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Countries including Albania, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Malta, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, have either enacted some form of ban or taken steps towards doing so. The EU has also called on states to ban the practice. The UN Independent Expert on Combatting Violence and Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity presented a report to the UN on the topic. Conversion therapy has been shown to cause considerable harm, especially to children. In some instances, it is regarded as a form or torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. That said, there is room for caution given some jurisdiction’s reliance on vague and overly broad definitions of what constitutes ‘conversion therapy’ and overreliance on punitive criminal penalties that may themselves further violate rights. A rights-respecting, holistic approach is called for including tailored legal bans, public education, and psychosocial support for survivors.

Boston Hospital became the second major children’s hospital in the US (joining Lurie’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago) to refine its standard of care for intersex children, reversing course on conducting some cosmetic, non-consensual surgeries. These developments auger well for an end to medically unnecessary, non-consensual surgeries on intersex children, although a legislative effort to ban such surgeries in California was unsuccessful. As the new year dawned, it brought promising news that India’s child rights agency was recommending a country-wide ban on these so-called “normalizing” surgeries.

In October 2021, a video documentary was aired on the life and times of Pope Francis that included an extract from an interview in which he expressed support for civil unions. Despite the fact that official doctrine of the Catholic Church remains unchanged, Pope Francis has had a moderating influence with regard to discrimination based on sexual orientation–both through his ‘who am I to judge?’ stance and his refocus on critical issues of our time such as poverty, inequality and climate catastrophe over traditional sexual moral issues. His endorsement of civil unions takes this stance a step further, lending the Vatican’s weight to a message long advanced by gay advocacy groups that society will not fall, and will indeed be strengthened if the civil, secular law provides orderly recognition of same-sex relationships.

An investigation by the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights similarly documented multiple forms of violence faced by LGBT people in the region, noting the particular “cruelty” of many cases of anti-LGBTIQ+ violence “including cases of stoning, decapitation, burning, or impalement.” In some cases, such violence and insecurity lead LGBTIQ+ people to flee their home country and seek asylum elsewhere. Courts have recognized sexual orientation and gender identity as constituting membership in a particular social group that could form the basis of an asylum claim with evidence of persecution. For an asylum application on the basis of LGBT status to be successful, an applicant must prove that sexual orientation or gender identity are the basis for membership in a particular social group, and that there is past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution on the basis of that membership (i.e., being LGBT).

Recent Case Laws

ECtHR in B and C v. Switzerland (Applications nos. 889/19 and 43987/16) held that an expulsion order to The Gambia of a homosexual applicant in the absence of a new assessment of risks would constitute a violation of the ECHR, Article 3(Prohibition of Torture). For the first time the European Court of Human Rights in 2020 established that in consideration of deportation cases, the failure of sufficiently assessing the risks of ill treatment based on one’s sexual orientation, particularly by non-state actors in a country of origin, gives rise to violation of Article 3.

In Greece, the Appeals Authority in 2020 (Case No. 16937/2019) recognised refugee status to an Iranian national based on persecution due to homosexuality and ruled on the respect for integrity and private life during the personal interview. The Appeals Authority noted that the procedure for assessing the credibility of the applicant’s claim and the detailed questions concerning his sexual activities and motives were contrary to the EU Charter, Articles 3 and 7.

The Estonian Supreme Court (Case No. 3-19-990/30) in 2020 ruled on the assessment of credibility in cases concerning persecution based on sexual orientation in the case of an applicant from Uganda, whose request for international protection was rejected by the Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB) as unfounded. The court highlighted that the applicant’s statements on sexual orientation should constitute the starting point for the assessment of the facts and the assessment criteria of statements or other evidence must be in accordance with the right to respect for private and family life. In addition, the court noted the importance of appropriate training of staff, use of suitable interviewing techniques and acknowledged that the greater the risk of persecution for the applicant as to the veracity of his allegation of sexual orientation, the more careful the assessment of the facts and circumstances must be.

The French CNDA (National Court of Asylum, Case No. 19053522)  recognised refugee status for an applicant who was at risk upon return to Lebanon, where homosexuals are a particular social group at risk of persecution. The CNDA noted that the applicant would not benefit from state protection and the legislation provides that homosexuality is a criminal offence punished by up to 1 year’s imprisonment and a monetary fine.

According to a ruling of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court (Case No. D-6722/2017), unbearable psychological pressure deriving from the situation of homosexuals in Syria justifies granting refugee status. The court noted that Syrian legislation criminalises same-sex relations and state protection does not exist. The court added that updated country of origin information reveals that it is impossible for homosexuals to openly live in Syria, and the court concluded that concealment and suppression of sexual orientation as a result of persistent fear of outing and lack of protection from state or private actors amounts to unacceptable psychological pressure.

The Administrative Tribunal of Luxembourg (Case No. 42664) rejected a request for international protection for misleading the authorities about sexual orientation. The case concerned an applicant for international protection from Nigeria, who mentioned only during the second interview his alleged attraction for men after, in previous interviews, he gave other reasons for leaving, while his overall statements about his alleged sexual orientation were considered inconsistent, confusing and imprecise.

Resources

Publications

This is a list of publications that lend some insight into the type of arguments used in LGBTI claims and the types of responses encountered, giving an overview of the global jurisprudential landscape for such asylum claims.

Advocates for Informed Choice

www.aiclegal.wordpress.com/
 Advocates for Informed Choice, P.O. Box 676, Cotati, CA 94931
Email: director@aiclegal.org

This organisation’s mission is to promote the civil rights of children born with variations of sex anatomy. AIC is the first, and only, organization in the U.S. to undertake a coordinated strategy of legal advocacy for the rights of children with intersex conditions or DSDs (differences of sex development).

AsylumLaw.org

www.xpats.io/asylum-seeker/?countryID=70

This page for sexual minority and HIV-positive asylum applicants contains vital documents, including country laws against homosexuality, country condition reports, and country-specific news links.

LGBTQ Disaster Assistance

LGBTQ Disaster Assistance is an online network connecting practitioners, academics and students interested in contributing to the health and well-being of sexual minorities before, during, and in the aftermath of natural, technological, or human-induced disasters or mass emergencies.

Contact:  Marcilyn Cianfarani mcpanthera@gmail.com

The Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention – Black CAP

www.black-cap.com
20 Victoria St. 4th floor, Toronto, Ontario M5C 2N8
Tel: (416) 977 – 9955
Fax: (416) 977 – 7664
Email: info@black-cap.com

Black CAP launched an  LGBT Settlement Program in March 2009 in response to a large number of LGBT immigrants and refugees who seek services at Black CAP. The settlement needs of Black LGBTQ community members are especially complex. In many cases, LGBT members of the community are unable to access mainstream settlement services as a result of stigma and homophobia. As with our clients living with HIV/AIDS, their plan to migrate to Canada was initiated as a result of violence, isolation and trauma in their country of origin. This is an important contextual factor and as a result settlement services must address this reality. Many providers are unable to offer this support in a way that recognizes the specific settlement challenges that Black LGBT newcomers face. Black CAP’s settlement programs include support for gay refugee youth.

Immigration Equality

www.immigrationequality.org/contactus.php
 Immigration Equality, 40 Exchange Place, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10005
Tel: +1 (212) 714-2904, (917) 654-9696, (310) 780-0736
Fax: +1 (315) 825-4058
Email: legal@immigrationequality.org

Immigration Equality is a national organization that advocates for full equality for LGBT and HIV-positive individuals under asylum law in the USA. They do both policy work on the Uniting American Families Act, the HIV ban, and other issues, and in the area of asylum they do direct representation, run a pro bono project, and provide mentoring for other attorneys. LGBT foreign nationals are provided with up-to-date information about immigration law via training, informational materials, and by answering email and telephone inquiries. Immigration Equality run a pro bono asylum project to assist LGBT and HIV-positive asylum seekers to find free or low-cost legal representation. They provide technical assistance to lawyers working on sexual orientation, transgender identity, or HIV status-based asylum applications, or other immigration applications where the client’s LGBT or HIV-positive identity is at issue in the case. They have an extensive resources section on their website which includes manuals to assist asylum claims, and also maintain a list of LGBT/HIV-friendly private immigration attorneys to provide legal representation for those who contact them. In the  Resources for Lawyers section, they also provide links to all precedential court cases concerning LGBT/H asylum.

Initiative Against Homophobia – Homofobiye Karsi Inisiyatif

www.queercy.org
Nicosia Office:

Human Rights House:

Şht. Ferruh Cambaz Sokak No:4 – Köşklüçiftlik / Nicosia

Famagusta Office:

Queer Cyprus Association & Famagusta Youth Centre (MAGEM) Office:
Mehmet Ali Görmüş Sokak/ Mağusa Kale Pasajı / Famagusta

Tel: +90 542 8585847
Email: queercyprus@gmail.com

The Initiative against Homophobia is based in Cyprus and works for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and intersex persons.

International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission

https://outrightinternational.org/

OUTRIGHT ACTION INTERNATIONAL

216 EAST 45TH STREET, 17TH FLOOR

NEW YORK, NY 10017

Tel: 212 43 06 054
Fax: 212 43 06 060
Email: iglhrc@iglhrc.org

BUENOS AIRES
Tel/Fax: +54 11 46 65 75 27
Email: mferreyra@iglhrc.org

CAPE TOWN:
66 Plein Street, Cape Town, 8001
Tel: +27 21 46 93 704
Fax: +27 21 46 23 024
Email: cjohnson@iglhrc.org) or iglhrc@iglhrc.org

The mission of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is advancing human rights for everyone, everywhere to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. The website includes country of origin information for countries on every continent. For general enquiries, email address above.

International Railroad for Queer Refugees Inc. (IRQR)

www.irqr.net
 20 Bay Street, 12th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2N8
Tel: +(1) 416 985 7456
Email: info@irqr.net

IRQR is an international queer human rights organization based in Toronto, Canada. IRQR help Iranian gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered refugees all over the world when threatened with deportation back to Iran, and also assist Iranian queers in obtaining asylum in friendly countries. Their goals are to end discrimination against sexual minorities in Iran; To raise awareness of queer oppression in Iran and in other countries; To advocate for the Iranian queer population; fight for the abolition of execution in Iran, and to end systematic abuses of human rights in Iran.

Many Iranians fleeing persecution for reason of their sexuality go to Turkey. UNHCR interviews these refugees and decides whether their case for asylum is valid. If they are granted asylum status, the UNHCR finds a new country for each person on the basis of their profile. However, IRQR assists some of these refugees through the process and, whenever possible, provides funds for safe houses from donations, since Turkey is also a homophobic and ‘transphobic society’ and queer people are not physically safe there either.

Organisation for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM)

https://oramrefugee.org/
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
USA Office: 615 1st Avenue NE, Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN, 55413
Europe Office: ORAM gGmbH, Sony Center, WeWork, D, Kemperplatz. 1, 10785 Berlin

Contact/email: oraminfo@oramrefugee.org

Founded in 2008, ORAM – the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration is a pioneer in advocating for the protection and well-being of extremely vulnerable LGBTIQ refugees and asylum seekers globally. With the help of supporters and partners, ORAM provides legal assistance, advances economic inclusion through livelihood programs, build coalitions, champions the rights of LGBTIQ asylum seekers and refugees on the global stage, provide critical emergency response to the communities they serve and promotes sustainable solutions. Visit their online resource pages at https://oramrefugee.org/seeking-help/.

Refugee Action-‘Free to be Me’

http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/campaigns/freetobeme/Freetobemeaction.aspx

The campaign is an awareness initiative to further educate UK border agents and the general public regarding sexuality and the freedom to live openly as LGBT

Yogyakarta Principles

www.yogyakartaprinciples.org

The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity are “a set of principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Principles, while not binding, do affirm a range of provisions on humane treatment and non-discrimination that are binding or persuasive under various international conventions and regional and national laws. They promise a different future where all people born free and equal in dignity and rights can fulfil that precious birthright.”

LGBTI Training Module

A new Training Module on adjudicating LGBTI asylum and refugee claims is now available on our self-study page. Produced by the US  Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and thus the rules are US-oriented, it provides useful materials generally.

Highlights of the Module include:

Helpful definitions, and appropriately sensitive questions, for officers to use, including specific instructions about questions to avoid, such as those related to specific sexual practices;

LGBTI – specific examples of harm that may constitute persecution, including: laws criminalizing same-sex sexual activity in an applicant’s home country; forced medical or psychiatric treatment intended to “cure” an applicant’s sexual orientation; forced marriage to an opposite-gender spouse; severe economic harm; and beatings or other physical abuse;

Instructions for analyzing complex issues, for example, that a former opposite-gender marriage does not mean an applicant is not lesbian or gay; that LGBTI applicants are not required to meet pre-conceived stereotypes or “look gay;” and that cultural norms within the LGBTI community in an applicant’s home country may differ from those in the US, and, here the course becomes very US-centric in that it provides a  non-exhaustive list of possible one-year filing deadline exceptions, but does include a discussion of those who have only recently ‘come out’ as LGBTI; recent steps to transition from birth gender to a corrected gender; a recent HIV diagnosis; post-traumatic stress disorder; or severe family opposition to an applicant’s identity.

The Movement Building Boot Camp (MBBC)

WHO IS THIS FOR?

The MBBC online platform is an e-learning space for African activists doing progressive work around sexuality, gender, justice and rights. It features training guides and knowledge resources to support creative thinking, strategising and discussions among activists working for social transformation inclusive of issues of sexuality and gender identity. The training resources are organised around three intersecting pillars: Concepts (theoretical frameworks for understanding our world), Practice (activist tools and methods) and Self (individual and collective well-being and security).

HOW TO USE THIS SITE

This site is intended to support self-organised learning and training. The materials are designed to be directly downloaded and used by individuals and activist groups. It includes training modules to help facilitate your own training or learning. The library contains references and materials for further reading. Content created for this site is available for free under a Creative Commons license that allows it to be used for non-commercial purposes. In the spirit of movement building, please do let us know how you are using the materials, and if you would like to contribute information for the site.

Building Rainbow Bridges for LGBTI Refugees

Rainbow Bridges, ORAM’s newest publication, shares the rare experience gained by ORAM during its yearlong pilot program assisting resettled LGBTI refugees in the San Francisco Bay Area. The refugees assisted had fled torture, severe harassment, and even execution in their countries of origin.

Rainbow Bridges includes:

  • Ways to secure U.S. admission for a refugee who is still overseas
  • Steps to build support systems for refugees among LGBTI and queer-friendly communities
  • Suggestions on providing a warm welcome to refugees during their first crucial months in the U.S.
  • Tips on safe and affordable housing for LGBTI refugees
  • Suggestions on how helping refugees can strengthen communities immeasurably

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS)

http://cgrs.uchastings.edu/

200 McAllister Street; San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: (415) 565-4877
Fax: (415) 581-8824

Email:cgrs@uchastings.edu

The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) has resources for women seeking asylum on account of domestic violence, including country conditions information on domestic violence in Honduras and an expert declaration on domestic violence in Honduras. If you would like to receive a copy of this information, please fill out a request for information on our website and we will respond shortly.

We provide all resources at no cost.

We have country conditions information and advisory materials for a number of other countries and topics, especially information regarding gender-based violence, persecution of LGBT individuals, and children.

We cover anywhere and everywhere, although our resources regarding domestic violence and violence against women in Mexico and Central America are the most extensive.

We have information packets for over 100 countries and with 4-6 weeks’ notice are happy to produce new packets for specific cases concerning gender, LGBT, or children’s issues. In addition to those packets, we have general expert declarations regarding domestic violence in Mexico, violence against indigenous women in Mexico, domestic violence in Guatemala, domestic violence in Honduras, domestic violence in El Salvador, violence against women generally in El Salvador, one on FGC generally, and one on incest.

If you have a case for which you are in need of assistance, please feel free to submit a request at the above URL and we will share with you anything that may be of help.

Last updated 18.08.2022