Nov 11, 2007Quickie Link: Gay Man from Jamaic Wins Asylum in USA
By vanrozenheim
(USA) - A Gay Jamaican man who feared persecution if forced to leave the United States for his home country was granted asylum Thursday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “I am grateful to the United States government for saving my life,” Ven Messam said in a statement released by the Columbia Law School's Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic, which assisted him with his case. “My life in Jamaica was constantly in danger, with angry mobs carrying machetes, stones, knives, and guns, threatening to kill me because I am Gay. When I tried to contact the police for help, the police instead threatened to arrest me and told me to leave the country if I wanted to stay safe.”
