From: LLDEFNY@aol.com
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 13:35:55 -0400
Subject:  Iranian Gay Man Granted Political Asylum


LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND
PRESS RELEASE

Iranian Gay Man Granted Political Asylum

(NEW YORK, July 19, 1995)-- In a ruling that demonstrates a commitment by
immigration officials to subject lesbian and gay asylum seekers to fair
standards, an Iranian gay man living in New York was granted political asylum
by an officer of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

"Persecution of lesbians and gay men around the world has escalated to
epidemic proportions,"  said Suzanne B. Goldberg, staff attorney at Lambda
Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented the gay man in the case.
  "This ruling reflects our nation s commitment to providing refuge for all
persecuted persons, including lesbians and gay men, who meet the strict
eligibility requirements for political asylum."

Joseph E. Langlois, asylum director of the INS offices in Newark, N.J.
granted the asylum application after
determining  that the man, known as  "A.T.,"  had a  "well-founded fear of
persecution"  if he were deported to Iran.   According to Islamic penal law,
the punishment for sodomy is death.  Lesbianism is punishable by 100 lashes
for the first conviction, and death after the third.

A.T., who has been working as a designer and living in Brooklyn since his
arrival in 1984, was elated by the ruling: " I feel a 100 pounds lighter, as
if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Now I can start planning my
life, and begin pursuing my dreams without the fear that I might be facing a
death sentence simply for being gay."

While A.T. is not the first person to be granted political asylum on account
of his sexual orientation, his case is notable because  he came out as a gay
man after he left Iran, and therefore did not actually experience persecution
by the Iranian government.  Nonetheless, A.T. would surely have faced
persecution, if he had been deported.

Under U.S. immigration and asylum rules, individuals from other countries are
eligible for political asylum if they can prove that they have experienced
persecution or have a well-founded fear of persecution  because of several
factors, including political opinion or membership in a particular social
group.

In June 1994, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno issued an order designating a
1990 Board of Immigration Appeals ruling as precedent, thereby allowing
lesbians and gay men to be considered a social group of purposes of
determining political asylum eligibility.   That ruling involved a gay man
from Cuba who was fleeing persecution in his native country.

Since then, about a dozen people have been granted political asylum because
of their sexual orientation.  Two related cases, in which Lambda is involved,
are currently pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals: one involves a
Russian lesbian who fled her homeland to escape punishment by the Russian
government and mafia; the other involves a gay men from Brazil, where
government-backed militias routinely round up gays and other  "disposable
 members" of society to be tortured or killed.

"The United States has accepted refugees from other countries for virtually
its entire history,"  said Lambda Board co-chair Noemi Masliah, who is the
cooperating attorney on the case.  " Now it is recognizing that foreign
lesbians and gay men who are living in terrifying conditions can also find
safety between our shores. "

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 Press Contact Denny Lee, Suzanne Goldberg, (212) 995-8585/0085