Nigeria asylum seeker and award winning gay rights activist, Aderonke Apata has failed to get asylum once again.
The UK Home office denied her by claiming that as she has been in multiple heterosexual relationships which resulted in the birth of her children, she can’t be a lesbian.
The 46 year old Aderonke, left Nigeria for the UK in 2004 after she said she was being threatened for being a lesbian.
At the sitting on Tuesday, The London High Court, the Home Secretary’s lawyer, Andrew Bird argued that Apata doesn’t belong to the ‘social group known as lesbians’ but had ‘indulged in same-sex activity’. He said “You can’t be a heterosexual one day and a lesbian the next day. Just as you can’t change your race.”
Apata’s lawyer Abid Mahmood, cried out over the arguement and said that these were “highly offensive… stereotypical views of the past. Some members of the public may have those views but it doesn’t mean a government department should be putting these views forward in evidence”.
Aderonke’s wife to be, Nigerian Agboro Hapiness said: “The
Home Office has treated me badly from day one. Staying in Britain means
staying safe, staying with my partner and continuing my campaigning.”
The court adjourned to a later date for further hearing.
According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 97 percent of Nigerian residents believe that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, which was the second-highest rate of non-acceptance in the 45 countries surveyed.
The UK Home office denied her by claiming that as she has been in multiple heterosexual relationships which resulted in the birth of her children, she can’t be a lesbian.
The 46 year old Aderonke, left Nigeria for the UK in 2004 after she said she was being threatened for being a lesbian.
At the sitting on Tuesday, The London High Court, the Home Secretary’s lawyer, Andrew Bird argued that Apata doesn’t belong to the ‘social group known as lesbians’ but had ‘indulged in same-sex activity’. He said “You can’t be a heterosexual one day and a lesbian the next day. Just as you can’t change your race.”
Apata’s lawyer Abid Mahmood, cried out over the arguement and said that these were “highly offensive… stereotypical views of the past. Some members of the public may have those views but it doesn’t mean a government department should be putting these views forward in evidence”.
Apata and Nigerian partner
The court adjourned to a later date for further hearing.
According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 97 percent of Nigerian residents believe that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, which was the second-highest rate of non-acceptance in the 45 countries surveyed.
No comments:
Post a Comment