Tabloid homophobia raises it's ugly head again

Two tabloid newspapers sunk to new depths today with homophobic opinion pieces on the recent ruling by the supreme court to allow asylum seekers who are gay not to be sent back to countries where they will face the risk of persecution.

The Daily Express produced this gem:

In the article they quote Supreme Court judge Lord Rodger, who comes out with the following hideous stereotype:

He said: “Just as male hetero sexuals are free to enjoy themselves playing rugby, drinking beer and talking about girls with their mates, so male homosexuals are to be free to enjoy themselves going to Kylie concerts, drinking exotically-coloured cocktails and talking about boys with their straight female mates.”

The Daily Star produced an even worse headline with 'NO ROOM FOR GAYS'.  In the article they claim asylum seekers will go gay to gain asylum, by saying:

Some people will do whatever it takes if it means a cushy life in Britain.

We must challenge this hideous excuse for journalism when we see it.  It is designed to promote homophobia and prejudice towards asylum seekers.

LGBT Greens launch petition to push Urgent review of Home Office approaches to LGBT asylum

NEWS FROM THE GREEN PARTY of England and Wales LGBT GROUP

http://www.lgbtgreens.org.uk/

LGBT Greens launch petition to push Urgent review of Home Office approaches to LGBT asylum
Calls for instruction, training and guidance for all asylum staff
5.8.8

Phelim Mac Cafferty, media spokesperson for LGBT Greens stated:
“After much campaigning on the issue since the cases of Iranian LGBT asylum seekers Pegah Emembakhsh and Mehdi Kazemi came to light, we have got clearance from the web team on the Prime Minister’s website for our petition.

“We now challenge the government to start treating LGBT asylum seekers with the fairness that they deserve. These are people who’ve often fled persecution, rape and torture who flee to our country and our response is to lock them up like criminals. We say enough is enough of this inhumane policy- we need to stick our necks out now and stand up for LGBT asylum seekers.”

The full text of the petition is at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/lgbtasylum/ and below-

In the light of the cases of Pegah Emembakhsh and Mehdi Kazemi, Iranian LGBT asylum seekers, who sought asylum in the UK , we call upon the Prime Minister for an urgent review of the services provided for all LGBT asylum seekers. In particular we think that the following are needed for fair treatment -
1. Compulsory training for all asylum staff on sexual-orientation and trans-awareness.
2. Explicit instructions to all immigration and asylum staff, and asylum judges, that homophobic and transphobic persecution are legitimate grounds for granting asylum.
3. Clearer and up-to-date guidance from the Home Office for asylum judges to reflect the accurate scale of LGBT persecution throughout the world using expert information from NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
4. Legal-aid funding for asylum claims needs to be substantially increased.