(UK) - The Home Office offered some bizarre advice to a Jamaican Lesbian who applied for asylum in Britain. In an asylum system based on institutionalised stonewalling, there's little hope for human rights - regardless of what the law says. Eight years ago, a landmark ruling by the House of Lords in two appeal cases (Regina v Shah and Islam v Secretary of State for the Home Department) signalled an important change in Britain's interpretation of asylum law. But in practice, ignorance of the implications of this ruling amongst asylum seekers (and the solicitors representing them) conspired to deaden the ruling's impact ... with one notable exception. The UK's Gay human rights movement picked up on its potential to help Gay men and Lesbians fleeing persecution in Africa, Jamaica, the Middle East and elsewhere.