In some countries being gay is not just shunned upon, it's punishable by jail, torture or even death. Over 4,000 gay Iranians have been executed since 1979 (read more). JFLAG reports that gay Jamaicans are being stabbed in the streets in broad daylight (read more). Gays in Malaysia are subjected to severe punishment, including being strapped until raw flesh is exposed.

So, when a gay man flees his home country and seeks asylum elsewhere, how do they prove they are gay? The Canadian Refugee Board is now facing this issue. If the applicant does not provide "credible testimony" that they are gay, then their application can be rejected (like refugee claimant Kulenthiran Amirthalingam's was). Amirthalingam was jailed in Malaysia for being gay after his refugee application was rejected in Canada.

Michael Battista, a Toronto lawyer, blames Canada's failure to protect gay and lesbian refugee claimants on their lack of amnesty guidelines for LGBT people. "We have guidelines for gender [and] race, but for the last 17 or so years that [gay and lesbian] claimants have been seeking refugee status there have been no guidelines for sexual orientation," said Battista.

The Times Colonist reports that "with no witnesses, photographs, love-letters or other documents indicating a gay lifestyle, refugees are often left showing up before the [Canadian] refugee board acting flamboyant or acting on other gay stereotypes." But often letters and witnesses are considered hearsay by the Canadian Refugee Board.

If I were in a situation where I faced death or torture for being gay, I wonder how I would prove my homosexuality? Is it possible, especially if I don't fall within the subjective opinions, stereotypes, perceptions (or all of the above) of a possibly homophobic magistrate? And what "guidelines" would a refugee board use to determine if I was gay?

Legit claimants risk jail, torture or worse when refugee boards get it wrong, as was the case with Kulenthiran Amirthalingam. But, how exactly do they get it right with a global LGBT culture that expands beyond the confines of generalizations and stereotypes?

_{Image © Andrew Hildebrand.}