Refugees: Too gay or not gay enough

Refugee determinations can depend entirely on a refugee telling intensely personal stories to a stranger behind a desk and being believed. In gay/lesbian cases, the credibility assessments are particularly tough calls, and asylum seekers are too often caught between being too gay or not gay enough.

And yes, this is what we deal with all the time at work: convincing people in power that their gaydar is not up to par and/or offensive.

Not gay enough.

Not that we want gay identity to be swallowed up into sexual identity, but even sex tapes have not been enough to substantiate a claim: "In one extraordinary case, the Canadian tribunal actually viewed a sex tape of the applicant and held that it did not involve his claimed partner because the perfunctory nature of the sex, lack of smiling and conversation led them to conclude that ‘The sex acts appear so mechanical it looks more like an encounter between a “John” and a male prostitute, rather than two men very much in love with each other’" (quoted from Jenni Millbank's awesome article).

There was even a movement toward hooking up gay folk's genitalia to machines and playing them porn. Full disclosure here is that I helped do the research for the published report.

Anyone who works in the field can rattle off any number of ridiculous examples of these gaydar stereotypes, but here are some that stand out for me. Many are laughable, but the main thing to keep in mind is that this isn't just a silly OkCupid "Are YOU gay enough to be a refugee?" quiz, but that people who don't pass muster on these arbitrary Western pop culture-oriented questions are sent right back to their countries, where they are horrifically abused and/or executed. Sorry, #debbiedowner.

• Reading Oscar Wilde and André Gide: A senior caseworker in the UK looked at whether asylum seekers had explored "their sexuality in a cultural context . . . reading Oscar Wilde perhaps, films and music."
• Enjoying Greco-Roman wrestling
• Appreciating Madonna and Bette Midler
• Plucking your eyebrows
• Dressing as a woman
• Knowing the layout of the local gay clubs or bathhouse: In one case, the applicant was asked whether or not they had been to a local gay bathhouse and then questioned as to which side the towels were on. The big twist is that the bathhouse does not provide a towel service. Gotcha there, Mister Refugee!
• Being sexually promiscuous
• Drinking Bailey's Irish Cream: In Cameroon, a judge handed out five year prison sentences in November 2011 to two "obviously effeminate" men for having this "typically feminine drink" (many a straight college boy has had this in a hip flask or as an initial foray into the world of Drink, so who are we kidding?). The convictions were overturned today on appeal (not a refugee case, I know, but since it happened today, I couldn't help but mention it).

"Typically feminine drink"

On the other hand, one of my favorite quotes from a 2010 British case (abandoning the requirement of discretion in LGBT cases, at least in the UK) is summarized in the following:

Thank you, Lord Rodger.