Gay Dominican granted assylum in the US due to sexual orientation.

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Pib

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I stumbled upon this article about a male gay Dominican who seeked asylum in the US based on persecution due to this sexual orientation.

From the article:
In 1994 Villalona-Perez was employed at a garment company in his hometown of Bani - a job at which he had been physically assaulted by co-workers on two occasions and ridiculed in front of other employees "for being a woman," according to court documents. He was sent to New York on a temporary work visa for an employee training and used the days before the training began to visit relatives in Boston. It was here that Villalona-Perez realized he could have a better life in the United States than in his native country; he decided to stay.

Less than a year later he was arrested by Immigration and Naturalization Service agents and deportation proceedings were initiated immediately. It wasn't until Villalona-Perez enlisted the aid of the Political Asylum / Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project, a pro bono immigration organization that represents low-income asylum-seekers in the United States, that he learned that he could apply for asylum based on sexual orientation.
He was later granted asylum by US authorities.

Here is my question, are gay Dominicans trully that persecuted? It is not my experience (which is not to say that it may not have happened to this particular person), but the cynic me just thinks that it was a way to stay in the US after the fact (the fact been that he overstayed his visa). Of course I could be wrong and am willing to be educated.




Mod note: Do not even try to hijack this thread, please keep your opinion on homosexuality to yourself, that is not what this thread is about.
 

Lechero

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Aug 11, 2004
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Very recent news

Thursday, September 18, 2003 is the date of publication.
This is a year old.
 

Lechero

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Visa Excuse

What exactly is the point of this article, other than to see how many controversial responses are generated?
 

haitianobeisbol

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Yup

Lechero said:
What exactly is the point of this article, other than to see how many controversial responses are generated?

LOL. Word!

You can see the kind of controversy Ive created with my innocent threads. Thice place can be harsh sometimes.
 

Argo

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Pib said:
I stumbled upon this article about a male gay Dominican who seeked asylum in the US based on persecution due to this sexual orientation.

From the article:
He was later granted asylum by US authorities.

Here is my question, are gay Dominicans trully that persecuted? It is not my experience (which is not to say that it may not have happened to this particular person), but the cynic me just thinks that it was a way to stay in the US after the fact (the fact been that he overstayed his visa). Of course I could be wrong and am willing to be educated.




Mod note: Do not even try to hijack this thread, please keep your opinion on homosexuality to yourself, that is not what this thread is about.

Doesn't the US have a policy of returning Dominicans home unless they show they face severe persecution?
 

Larry

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Mar 22, 2002
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Lechero said:
What exactly is the point of this article, other than to see how many controversial responses are generated?


I believe that is how "debates" are formed.

Larry
 

Ken

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If it worked for one, I'm surprised the US Consulate hasn't been flooded with Dominican asylum seekers.
 

suarezn

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Ken said:
If it worked for one, I'm surprised the US Consulate hasn't been flooded with Dominican asylum seekers.
I was thinking the same thing. If people get wind of this, before you know everyone will be claiming they are gay...
PIB: To your point my experience has been kind of like yours in the sense that I have never seen any gay person being assaulted in The DR, solely because they are gay. I have seen people make jokes about them and kind or ridicule them, to which the gay person normally has some kind of come back. In my hometown (Cotui) i know of at least 5 who are openly gay. Some of them even dress like women. They hang out in the club and dance with each other of with girls. They seem to be pretty much accepted within our society. I also believe that they go out with a lot of guys who are not "gay" or pretend not to be, but of course they wouldn't want anyone to know that they went out with these gay guys. That's The DR for you.
 

MrMike

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When my internet bar was hijacked by the Santiago gay community I used to hear alot of sob stories about persecution, some were believeable, one lesbian who frequented the place came in with her clothes torn claiming some men had tried to rape her in an attempt to "cure" her of being a lesbian.

The impression I got though was that for the most part while being gay is a big taboo here, so is most everything else, and most Dominicans are guilty of several taboos so while few Dominican guys will associate with gays, even fewer will go out and try to beat them up.
 

Chirimoya

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I have a brother-in-law who is rabidly homophobic, to the extent that one wonders whether 'he doth protest too much'. The rest of the family are slightly embarrassed by his behaviour, and make fun of it.

There are a couple of openly gay people in the extended family and no one bats an eyelid. Sure, people use terms like 'pajaro' which can be insulting, but on the whole they seem to accept being gay as part of life.

It is also is a well-known fact that many gay people in the DR are deep in the closet, living a double life, with all the problems that can create for themselves and their loved ones.

Of the first three Dominicans I ever met, two were gay. One had chosen life outside the DR for the usual reasons but also because he found it easier as a gay man. I know several lesbians in Santo Domingo, most of whom are completely out and quite politicised, but like everywhere else in the world there is more acceptance in certain classes and circles.

I can believe that in certain environments (like the case cited by Pib in the OP) gay people meet with more ridicule and persecution than amongst the intelligentsia. This applies to any country. Not enough to justify political asylum - I find that one quite hard to believe, and I have to agree with Ken when he says:

If it worked for one, I'm surprised the US Consulate hasn't been flooded with Dominican asylum seekers.

Make that gay Dominican asylum seekers.

Chiri
 

Pib

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Lechero said:
Thursday, September 18, 2003 is the date of publication.
This is a year old.
There is a thread about Columbus in this same forum, that is old news. Besides, it ain't news till I find out about it. :)



I don't know anybody that can be said to be rabidly homophobic, mildly homophobic yes. I have a couple of friends whom I'd like to smack with a rolled newspaper once in a while because of their views on this, however one of them had a change of heart after one common good friend came out of the closet. Suddenly she felt that been gay wasn't the same as been a pervert, funny how fast they accept the facts of life when it hits close to home.

I think that this mild homophobia in many Dominican males is actually an effort to stress their own heterosexuality, a 'just so you know', kind of thing. I am sure gay people are discriminated on, but it isn't nearly as bad as the picture painted by this article.
 

thick_neck

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It's been said that extreme display of homophobia is in itself a mechanism to hide one's own fears.

A few years ago a study was conducted in which homophobics and liberal subjects were shown same-sex (male) videos while having a device attached to their penises to measure reactions. And guess what? You guessed it: the tough guys won. And by a big margin to boot.

One of the explanations used was that it (the video) caused stress and blah
blah blah...

But getting stopped by the traffic police causes stress, too, and no one has those kinds of reactions.
 
Apr 26, 2002
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Pib,

I translated your article into Spanish for mis panas at the corner colmado. The following ensued:

Flaco headed to Miches carrying a black backless dress, pumps, a child's water wings and shark repellent.

Miguel Angel is now on his way to Nagua. He took his sister's nighty and a pink cheerleader teddybear, as well as an inflatable Scoobydoo and a paddle.

Santos went down to the port. There's a Greek freighter in town. He brought some Extacy, George Michael CDs and a tube of KY jelly. He said something about wanting to live with his half-sister in Providence.
 
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CyaBye3015

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Chirimoya said:
Make that gay Dominican asylum seekers. Chiri

I think you missed the point here. You don't have to be "gay" to claim you are, and are being persecuted for it.

BTW I'm neither gay nor homophobic; I just don't why some people make such a big deal about it!
 

Pib

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CyaBye3015 said:
I think you missed the point here. You don't have to be "gay" to claim you are, and are being persecuted for it.
So, you don't have to be gay to claim you are being persecuted for being gay? :confused:



The reason why I was surprised by this is the fact that not anybody can seek asylum. AFAIK, and I could very well be wrong on this, you need to demonstrate that your life is in jeopardy due to a generalized situation and the unwillingness or incapability of authorities to protect your life. An abused wife who suspects that her husband will kill her does not qualify for asylum despite her life being in clear danger, the difference is that she is in danger because of her specific situation, not because a certain type of women are been targeted.

If there was a generalized problem, if laws existed to punish gay people, and the authorities have been proven time and time again that they will not protect gay people, then yes, he had a good basis for seeking asylum. As it is, I think they exagerated simply because he wanted to stay in the US after he had overstayed his visa. He sure is better in the US, sure been gay is more accepted there, but that is not the reason why he was granted asylum. There is now a precedent, and I wonder who will be next to claim that they need to leave the D.R. because of persecution.
 

CyaBye3015

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Pib said:
So, you don't have to be gay to claim you are being persecuted for being gay? :confused:

The reason why I was surprised by this is the fact that not anybody can seek asylum. AFAIK, and I could very well be wrong on this, you need to demonstrate that your life is in jeopardy due to a generalized situation and the unwillingness or incapability of authorities to protect your life. An abused wife who suspects that her husband will kill her does not qualify for asylum despite her life being in clear danger, the difference is that she is in danger because of her specific situation, not because a certain type of women are been targeted.

If there was a generalized problem, if laws existed to punish gay people, and the authorities have been proven time and time again that they will not protect gay people, then yes, he had a good basis for seeking asylum. As it is, I think they exagerated simply because he wanted to stay in the US after he had overstayed his visa. He sure is better in the US, sure been gay is more accepted there, but that is not the reason why he was granted asylum. There is now a precedent, and I wonder who will be next to claim that they need to leave the D.R. because of persecution.

Pib,

You don't live in the USA do you?

Castro can empty Cubas prisons, put the inmates on boats, send them to Florida and well take them in!!!
 
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CyaBye3015 said:
Pib,

You don't live in the USA do you?

Castro can empty Cubas prisons, put the inmates on boats, send them to Florida and well take them in!!!
Sorry CyaBye, but Cubans are treated under a completely separate law that automatically entitles them to legal immigration status if they can reach US soil without having to claim political asylum. It is a totally different line of law.

My grandmother took advantage of this fact for years. She was born in Cuba but left a decade before the revolution and settled in Mexico. She remained a Cuban national. Later, she came to the US and overstayed her Visa - thinking that this was a problem. It was all resolved when the family found out she was still a Cuban citizen -- no need to claim political asylum or anything else.

As for the issue, I'm not sure that being gay in the DR is that much worse than being gay in the US. I know a gay DominicanYork who says that he'd much rather be gay in Santo Domingo than in Oklahoma City. In fact, I know a very wealthy and established gay businessman in Barahona who insists that the DR is the best place on the planet to be gay (but he's talking about his own personal access to sex with young men - and not about any environment of tolerance).
 
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Chirimoya

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CyaBye3015 said:
I think you missed the point here. You don't have to be "gay" to claim you are, and are being persecuted for it.

BTW I'm neither gay nor homophobic; I just don't why some people make such a big deal about it!

For the record, I didn't miss the point. I just liked the image it evoked, and Porfi brought it to life in glorious technicolor a couple of posts later.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert, eat your heart out. :classic:

Chiri
 

CyaBye3015

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Porfio_Rubirosa said:
Sorry CyaBye, but Cubans are treated under a completely separate law that automatically entitles them to legal immigration status if they can reach US soil without having to claim political asylum. It is a totally different line of law.

My grandmother took advantage of this fact for years. She was born in Cuba but left decades before the revolution and settled in Mexico. She remained a Cuban national. Later, she came to the US and overstayed her Visa - thinking that this was a problem. It was all resolved when the family found out she was still a Cuban citizen -- no need to claim political asylum or anything else.

As for the issue, I'm not sure that being gay in the DR is that much worse than being gay in the US. I know a gay DominicanYork who says that he'd much rather be gay in Santo Domingo than in Oklahoma City. In fact, I know a very wealthy and established gay businessman in Barahona who insists that the DR is the best place on the planet to be gay (but he's talking about his own personal access to sex with young men - and not about any environment of tolerance).

Porfio,

Have it your way! My point was, (take the gay equation out of this) in the USA we allow some of the most undesirable people to become US citizens for all the wrong reasons.
 
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