Asylum for LGBT People Facing Persecution, March 2016

In March 2016, Laura Boyle ’17 and Qianli You ’16 won asylum for a gay man from Jamaica after advocating for him at a hearing in the DHS Asylum Office.  In Jamaica, where anti-gay violence is rampant, their client had tried to hide his homosexuality by marrying a woman and having a child.  After being “outed” by a man with whom he was having a relationship, his homosexuality became widely known, and he was harassed in the streets with homophobic slurs, received death threats, and twice was chased by men throwing stones and wooden sticks.  When he went to the police, he was told that they would not investigate threats against a “battyman.”  After coming to the U.S. on a visa to visit family, he received further news of serious death threats, and decided to apply for asylum.