A gay Mexican man who says he would be persecuted if he returned to his own country has been refused asylum in Canada because he is too masculine.

The Immigration and Refugee Board rejected Fernando Enrique Rivera ruling that because he is not "visibly effeminate" he would not be vulnerable to persecution in Mexico, the Globe and Mail newspaper reports.

"I know some gay refugees who put on lipstick and dressed effeminately for their hearings because they thought it would help their case. But that is not who I am," Rivera told the paper.

Rivera, who worked with the Puerto Vallarta police department as a statistician, fled to Canada four years ago after he was blackmailed by several officers who threatened to out him.

Rivera said he would likely lose his job if his sexuality became widely known in the force adding that a lesbian co-worker was dismissed after her sexuality was discovered.

The Board said that it believed Rivera would be fired by the Puerto Vallarta police, but decided that he could have relocated to the more liberal Mexico City.

Milagros Eustaquio in her ruling wrote that "effeminate gestures come naturally and unconsciously ... If he were indeed visibly effeminate, I do not think it is likely he would have been able to easily land a job with the 'macho' police force of Puerto Vallarta."

Despite human rights laws to protect gays in Mexico a report by the Washington-based World Policy Institute in 2003 said gays often suffer abuse by local officials.

Rivera was turned down in an appeal to the federal court of Canada and if the government rejects an additional appeal on humanitarian and compassionate grounds he would be subject to deportation.

"I believed in the system and I still do," Rivera told the paper. "Canada is an open society with so much diversity. I can't go back to Mexico to lead a life of deception. I want to be in a society that accepts me the way I am."

Without commenting specifically on Rivera's case, Canadian gay rights group Egale, which is not a party to his bid to remain in Canada, said it was troubled by the wording in the Board's decision.

"If the IRB is turning down refugee applications simply on the basis of whether or not someone "looks" gay or "acts" gay, then Egale has a big problem with this, Executive Director Gilles Marchildon told 365Gay.com. 
"I understand that evaluating refugee claims is a challenge. The system is backlogged and claims often involve weighing sensitive and subjective information. Still, IRB members must strive to be fair and objective. Stating that someone is not "visibly effeminate" suggests an expectation that all homosexual people conform to prevailing stereotypes."

Marchildon said that the Board needs to realize that persecution comes in many forms.

"Homosexuals can still be persecuted despite the fact that their country does not threaten them with death. Canada should be aware and mindful of this. Saying to someone who does not appear to be gay that they should return to their country and successfully hide their true orientation, is equivalent to saying to someone who is persecuted for their political beliefs that they should go back to their country and shut up, keeping their opinions to themselves."

A case similar to Rivera's is playing out in the US where another gay Mexican immigrant was denied asylum.

Jorge Soto Vega, a 34-year-old man from Tuxpan, Mexico, faced severe harassment and violence from the community and his own family from an early age. He was detained and beaten severely by police who threatened to kill him if they saw him again because they "wanted to get rid of gay people." 

At a hearing last October a Southern California immigration judge ruled that there was credible evidence that Soto Vega as persecuted in Mexico because of his sexual orientation, but rejected his application for asylum in the U.S., saying Soto Vega didn't appear gay to him and he could keep his sexual orientation hidden if he chose to.

Soto Vega's case is currently under appeal. 

"The basic promise of asylum is in question when an immigration judge recognizes that a man is being persecuted and sends him back to the country telling him to disguise the very characteristic that leads to persecution and makes him eligible for asylum," said Jon Davidson, Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal.

by Matt Johns
365Gay.com Newscenter
Los Angeles Bureau

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3.20 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."