Homosexuals seeking asylum in the UK likely to be turned down

put them at risk or for those who have contracted HIV.
In 1999, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker identified only as LZ entered the UK claiming fear of persecution.
In 2009 she applied for asylum, but was turned down by the UK Home office. The case was then taken to the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
The Upper Tribunal denied LZ’s appeal for asylum saying that it was “unable to accept that homosexuals are being persecuted as a generality when concrete examples are few, and when that standpoint is not supported by the best placed local observers”.
President Mugabe is on record castigating homosexuals. Judges Justice Macleman and Holmes spoke about the nation’s stance on homosexuality by saying “male homosexual behaviour is criminalised, but prosecutions are very rare. Lesbianism is not criminalised . . . There are no records of any murders with a homophobic element.
“Corrective rape” is rare and does not represent a general risk and added that “there is a ‘gay scene’ within limitations.”
The Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) helped support the court’s decision by telling a UK Border Agency fact finding mission that Zimbabwe is “not the worst place in the world to be gay or lesbian even though the President, government officials and church leaders have whipped up a climate of hysterical homophobia.”
Justice Macleman and Holmes went on to say “the perception that a woman is a lesbian may lead to discrimination or harassment from some individuals, but not generally to violence. There is a higher level of tolerance of homosexuality within Zimbabwean society than government rhetoric would suggest.” — Herald Reporter/The South African.com.