African gays in U.S.Seeking Permanent Political Asylum; How Genuine Are These Guys?

For years now, a gay man from Liberia named Bill has been living quietly in suburban Maryland, working at various hotels. He never worried seriously about what would happen if his long-term visa expired and he had to return. Until now.

Liberia, caught up in a wave of homophobia that is spurring an anti-gay legal crackdown across Africa, recently passed a law that mandates lengthy prison terms for anyone committing a homosexual act. Bill said a relative of his was caught and beaten by a mob that demanded he “renounce” being a homosexual.
As a result, Bill says he is terrified of going back — so terrified that he has applied for permanent political asylum in the United States.

“Before there was cultural prohibition, but it was not on the books. Now the animosity is growing, and the fear is spreading,” said Bill, 47, who spoke on the condition that his full name not be used because he is afraid for his safety. “It’s ironic that I am living in Maryland, a state that allows same-sex marriage, but if I go home, I would be committing a major crime.”

Bill is one of hundreds of gay Africans — some living at home and others in the United States — who have flooded legal-aid groups in the United States with appeals for help after the aggressive legal campaign against homosexuality. Lawyers and rights groups say the demand has intensified in the past two months, since Nigeria and Uganda enacted laws that criminalize homosexual behavior, identity and activism.

Homosexuality has long been banned in many African countries, but a powerful mix of religious fervor, fear of AIDS, anti-Western nationalism and political expediency is ratcheting up anti-gay sentiment to unprecedented levels, rights advocates said.

In response, governments across the continent are passing draconian criminal laws against homosexuals. It is illegal to be gay in 38 African countries and punishable by death in four. Ugandan legislators sought to impose a death sentence, too, but the president changed it to life imprisonment before signing the law Feb. 24.

“As soon as the Ugandan law was announced, we began to hear from Ugandans who wanted to get out,” said Aaron Morris, legal director at Immigration Equality, an advocacy group in New York. “We heard from more than a dozen the first day, then another dozen the second day. Uganda has been dangerous for years, but this is a major change. It has had a critical impact on people’s sense of security.”

Strong criticism

The Obama administration has been highly critical of the African legal crackdown, especially in countries such as Uganda that have had close relations with Washington. Secretary of State John F. Kerry compared Uganda’s new law to South African apartheid and anti-Jewish laws in Nazi Germany, calling it “atrocious” and “morally wrong.”