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15 Law & Sexuality: Rev. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Legal Issues 135 (2006)
Not Gay Enough for the Government: Racial and Sexual Stereotypes in Sexual Orientation Asylum Cases

handle is hein.journals/lsex15 and id is 141 raw text is: NLGLA MICHAEL GREENBERG WRITING COMPETITION Not Gay Enough for the Government: Racial and Sexual Stereotypes in Sexual Orientation Asylum Cases Deborah A. Morgan* I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 135 II. B ACKGROUND ................................................................................... 137 A. Racism and Homophobia in the Immignation Process ......... 138 B. The Asylum Process ............................................................... 139 C Characteristics ofAsylum Applicants .................................... 141 D) Not Gay Enough for the Government. The Case of 'M oham m ad ......................................................................... 144 III. UNCOVERING BIAS IN SEXUAL ORIENTATION ASYLUM D ECISION S ......................................................................................... 147 A. Racial Stereotypes and Essentalism ...................................... 148 B. Globalized Gay Stereotypes ................................................... 150 C Stereotypes i the Asylum Process ........................................ 153 IV IMPROVING SEXUAL ORIENTATION ASYLUM DECISIONS ................. 157 V C ONCLUSION .................................................................................... 160 I. INTRODUCTION Asylum seekers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) come to the United States to escape persecution including police abuse, harsh penalties (including death) for consensual sex, * Associate Managing Editor, American University Law Review, Volume 55; J.D. candidate 2006, American University, Washington College of Law; M.A. 1995, University of Oregon; B.A. 1989, Sheffield University, England. I would like to thank the National Lesbian & Gay Law Association for honoring this Article with First Place in the 2005 Michael Greenburg Student Writing Competition and the staff of the Tulane Journal of Law and Sexuality for continuing their work despite personal and institutional problems caused by Hurricane Katrina. Thanks also go to Professor Darren Hutchinson for his guidance during the writing of an earlier version of this Article as a research paper for his Critical Race Theory seminar. Special thanks go to Christopher Nugent, Esq., of Holland & Knight L.L.P., for his expert review and helpful comments and his tireless advocacy on behalf of LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants. Finally, I would especially like to thank my friend Mohammad for his permission to tell his story; my sincere best wishes to him as he starts his new life in the United States. 135

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