BRITAIN: Gov't Slammed For Questions Asked Of LGBT Asylum Seekers

Britain's Home Office is under for fire for "shockingly degrading" questions asked of LGBT people who seek asylum on the basis of persecution in their home countries. Via the Guardian:

A confidential Home Office document leaked to the Observer reveals how one bisexual asylum seeker was asked a series of lurid questions by a Home Office official, including: "Did you put your penis into x's backside?" and "When x was penetrating you, did you have an erection? Did x ejaculate inside you. Why did you use a condom?" The document reveals that during five hours of questioning in a UK detention centre, the male asylum seeker was also asked: "What is it about men's backsides that attracts you?" and "What is it about the way men walk that turns you on?" The questions, typed up by a Home Office employee, and dated last October, have been branded an "interrogation". The Home Office on Saturday admitted that staff were "not permitted to ask inappropriate or intrusive questions", but added that attempts to determine an individual's sexual orientation were conducted "as sensitively as possible".

A spokesman for the LGBT rights group Stonewall reacted: "Valuable time and resources is spent attempting to 'prove' a claimant is gay rather than establishing whether they have a legitimate fear of persecution." (Tipped by JMG reader Rodger)