National
U.S. issues new guidance for LGBT asylum claims
‘A step in the right direction, but it’s not enough’
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration ServicesĀ issued new guidance on Tuesday to assist officers handling asylum and refugee claims from LGBT people seeking to escape persecution by living in the United States.
The module, calledĀ āGuidance for Adjudicating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Refugee and Asylum Claims,ā addresses legal issues for weighing such cases, covers factors that must be considered when interviewing LGBT applicants and details methods to assess credibility of claims.Ā The guidance doesn’t expand the statutory definition of a refugee.
According to Immigration Equality, the guidance is the result of a two-year collaborative process between the organization and USCIS. In a statement,Ā Victoria Nelson, Immigration’s Equality’s legal director, called the module an “important step to better protect LGBTI asylum seekers.”
“This guidance will give officers the tools they need to gather the necessary evidence for validating an asylum claim, while respecting the often sensitive issues that potential asylees must navigate based on their past persecution,” Nelson said.
Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for Immigration Equality, said his organization has an open case load of LGBT asylum seekers that ranges from 150 to 200 cases each year. He estimated there are about 250 such cases of LGBT people seeking to come to the United State to escape persecution each year.
Many of these people come from nearby countries, such as Jamaica. While incidents of anti-gay harassment, even killings, are frequently reported in the Middle East, Ralls said the distance between those countries and the United States makes it difficult for LGBT people to seek asylum here.
According to the guidance, officers must determine if applicants are being persecuted because they have one or more of the characteristics of the definition of an LGBT refugee.Ā The guidance instructs officers to ask applicants what a persecutor may have said to them while causing them harm as well as the context of the persecution, such as if the applicant was attacked in a gay bar or while holding hands with a same-sex partner.
Examples of harm the guidance says LGBT people overseas may encounter include criminal penalties in countries where homosexuality is illegal; rape and other sexual violence; being forced into widely discredited “ex-gay” therapy aimed to alter sexual orientation; and being forced into an opposite-sex marriage.
“These incidents of harm must be assessed in their totality,” the guidance states. “They must be analyzed in light of prevailing attitudes with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity in the country of origin.”
Additionally, officers must determine whether the harm rises to the level of persecution and if the government of the country from which the applicant hails is unable to protect the individual. Applicants may be eligible for asylum even if they weren’t persecuted in the past, but have a well-rounded fear of future persecution.
The guidance also provides techniques for interviewing LGBT asylum seekers. The module notes the presence of family members during questioning may be an impediment and reminds officers to be sensitive when asking about sexual assault.
Additionally, the guidance provides possible reasons for being exempt from the one-year filing deadline for applying for asylum. Under current rules, all asylum seekers, including those seeking asylum based on their status, must apply within one year of coming to the United States.
In the case of LGBT applicants, the guidance says possible reasons for granting an exemption from this deadline include a person recently ācoming outā as LGBT; having recently taken steps to undergo gender transition; or severe family opposition to an applicantās identity.
Grace Gomez, a straight Florida-based-lawyer who aids LGBT asylum seekers in the United States, said the guidance is a “good step” because it recognizes the issue, but more work is needed to assist LGBT people seeking asylum in the country.
“It’s good that they’re recognizing it, but it’s just guidelines,” Gomez said. “It’s not putting anything into actual law, or into effect. … It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. It’s a Band-Aid on a gushing wound, if you put it that way.”
Gomez has won cases for LGBT Jamaicans seeking asylum in the United States andĀ refuge from violence and jail sentences that LGBT people face in their home country.
State Department
State Department travel advisory warns of potential anti-LGBTQ violence
FBI issued similar warning this week
The State Department on Friday issued a worldwide travel advisory that warns of potential violence against LGBTQ people and LGBTQ-specific events.
“Due to the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution,” reads the advisory. “The Department of State is aware of the increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events and advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution.”
The advisory further urges U.S. citizens to:
- Stay alert in locations frequented by tourists, including Pride celebrations and venues frequented by LGBTQI+ persons.
- Enroll in theĀ Smart Traveler Enrollment ProgramĀ (STEP)Ā to receive information and alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency overseas.
- Follow the Department of State onĀ FacebookĀ andĀ Twitter.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Homeland Security Investigations earlier this week issued a similar advisory.
The advisory notes June 12 will mark eight years since the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
The White House
White House acknowledges IDAHOBiT, reiterates support for global LGBTQ rights
WHO on May 17, 1990, declassified homosexuality as a mental illness
The Biden-Harris administration on Friday used the annual International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia to reiterate its support of LGBTQ and intersex rights around the world.
“On the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, my administration stands in support and solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people around the world as they seek to live full lives, free from violence and discrimination,” said President Joe Biden in a statement. “This is a matter of human rights, plain and simple.”
“The United States applauds those individuals and groups worldwide working to defend the rights of LGBTQI+ people wherever they are under threat,” he added. “We are grateful for the contributions that LGBTQI+ people make every day across our nation.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Biden.
“On this day, we reflect upon the violence and discrimination lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons worldwide suffer and re-commit ourselves to opposing these acts,” said Blinken in his own statement. “This year, like every year, we state unequivocally: LGBTQI+ persons deserve recognition of their universal human rights and human dignity.”
IDAHOBiT commemorates the World Health Organization’s declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder on May 17, 1990.
Blinken in his statement notes LGBTQ and intersex people around the world “continue to face insidious forms of stigma and discrimination.”
Dominica last month became the latest country to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in May 2023 signed his country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that, among other things, contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”
“Even as more countries make meaningful advancements towards full equality; LGBTQI+ persons continue to be sentenced to death for daring to live their sexual orientation or gender identity, subjected to coercive conversion ‘therapies’ and ‘normalization’ surgeries, discriminated against while receiving health services, restricted from exercising fundamental freedoms, and denied the dignity of same-sex partnership and fulfillment of family,” said Blinken.
“As we reflect upon the injustices that LGBTQI+ persons and their allies endure, we must not forget that today is fundamentally a day of action,” he added. “On this day and every day, the United States stands with LGBTQI+ persons around the world. We will continue to advocate for the rights of LGBTQI+ persons not just because we have a moral imperative to do so, but because it helps to strengthen democracy, bolster national security, and promote global health and economic development.”
The Tonga Leitis Association is among the myriad LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world that acknowledged IDAHOBiT.
š Today, we honor IDAHOBIT with the Tonga Leitis Association. We celebrate love, advocate for equality, and strive for a more inclusive Tonga. Join us in supporting equal rights for all and the journey towards acceptance. #IDAHOBIT2024 #TLA š³ļøāš
— Tonga Leitis Association (@LeitisTonga) May 16, 2024
Federal Government
Biden-Harris administration takes major step toward reclassifying marijuana
New regulations could lessen criminal penalties for cannabis
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday took a major step toward loosening the federal government’s regulation of marijuana by issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which outlines a proposal to reclassify it under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
The move comes pursuant to the Biden-Harris administration’s April 30 announcement of plans to recategorize cannabis as a Schedule III substance, which could substantially lessen the criminal penalties for those convicted of using, possessing, selling, distributing, or cultivating the drug.
A 60-day public comment period will begin after the NPRM is published on the Federal Register, along with a concurrent review of the proposed regulatory reforms by an administrative law judge assigned by the DEA.
Since the CSA was passed in 1971, cannabis has been listed under Schedule I, the category reserved for drugs that are considered to be the most dangerous and lacking any currently accepted medical use in the U.S.
In a press release, a senior administration official noted that “marijuana is currently classified higher than fentanyl and meth ā the drugs driving our Nationās overdose epidemic.”
President Joe Biden posted a video on X in which he said the proposal to house cannabis under the Schedule III regulatory regime constitutes “an important move towards reversing longstanding inequities.”
“Todayās announcement builds on the work weāve already done to pardon a record number of federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana,” the president said. “It adds to the action weāve taken to lift barriers to housing, employment, small business loans, and more for tens of thousands of Americans.”
“Look folks no one should be in jail for merely using or possessing marijuana,” Biden said. “Period.”
The president added, “Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana and Iām committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it.”
Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 16, 2024
So today, the @TheJusticeDept is taking the next step to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under federal law.
Here's what that means: pic.twitter.com/TMztSyyFYm
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