Canada rejects gay man who isn't 'effeminate' - Globe and Mail

http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040504.wxgay-refugee0504/BNStory/National/

The Immigration and Refugee Board has rejected the asylum case of a Mexican homosexual man on the grounds that he is not "visibly effeminate" and therefore not vulnerable to persecution in his homeland.

Fernando Enrique Rivera, who lifts weights, wears his hair closely cropped and favours jeans and conservative sports shirts, believes the IRB's decision shows a stereotypical understanding of homosexuality.

"I know some gay refugees who put on lipstick and dressed effeminately for their hearings because they thought it would help their case. But that is not who I am," Mr. Rivera said in an interview in a Church Street eatery in the heart of Toronto's gay village. "You don't choose to be gay. It's not like being a vegetarian. It's a very complex thing."

Was Rock Hudson "visibly effeminate"? The defense rests.

but in a way I see what they are getting at. Since he can pass as straight, he can avoid the discrimination. That discounts the very real cost of passing as straight and the difficulty in doing so even for those who look like he does.

I wouldn't have a bit of a problem getting into Canada if the US continues to move towards the right.

My experience in life may not be as vast as some others, but even I know that's absurd.

I was in high school when I was asked to feed our neighbor's cat for a few days while he was in the hospital after suffering a brutal beating because he looked at someone the "wrong way".

He was an adult man, living alone. He wasn't effeminate by anyone's standard. He was actually hyper-masculine. He was having drinks with a female friend the night it happened.

Did he flirt with his attacker in the bar? I don't know, but I know he couldn't have done anything to justify what was done to him.

In the interceding years I have learned that it is common for homophobic people to be repressed homosexuals who attack what they desire.

There is no safety in "passing".

should they grant asylum to heterosexuals who are effeminate, as they are likely to face discrimination by those who assume that they are homosexuals. :shrug:

Since he can pass as straight, he can avoid the discrimination

Uh, huh, same argument for blacks that could pass as whites... why would THEY care about their rights? I mean they can pretend and be treated as a white person, so they don't really need all those dang rights.

let me clarify, I don't think the decision was correct I was trying to explain what they were thinking. It seems clear they were thinking what I said they were thinking, and not what the original poster said they were thinking.

Tho, we tend to weed them out before they become our head of government.
(some here might disagree with that statement too!)

Sid

how do you prove that you're gay? Pictures with same sex friends (anyone can take those), families can, and do lie on immigration matters. Ask him to prove that he is gay on camera? Anyone can say that they're gay and need asylym.

what do you people suggest?

is probably the main reason breeders have never claimed to be gay in large numbers to avoid things like military service, etc.

Be gay or lesbians themselves, people who know instinctively not to "look for the stereotype."

I wouldn't be able to tell for sure if someone was pretending to be gay. Female or Male. Unfortunately, I think it has to be a wide net cast, even if they let in some straight people.

Where's George Orwell when you need him?

I could get the ouija board out, I guess.

He was also here. I used to live across the water from it.

Of course, they view his ideas as a roadmap rather than a cautionary warning. LOL!

He should have left his AK-47 at home.