The Incorporation of International Human Rights Standards into Sexual Orientation Asylum Claims: Cases of Involuntary "Medical" Intervention

This article begins by recognizing that gays and lesbians world-wide continue to face severe persecution and state-sanctioned violence on account of their sexual orientation. The lack of clear guidelines on what constitutes persecution under the 1951 Refugee Convention often results in violence against sexual minorities being categorized as discrimination as opposed to persecution. The article argues that human rights standards should be incorporated into asylum law to help develop the concept of persecution. This discussion is applied to medical intervention imposed to try to alter individuals' sexual orientation. The article discusses two possible legal grounds for establishing involuntary medical interventions as persecution, namely the historical rationale for the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Nuremburg Code. The conclusions recommend that sexual minorities who can establish persecution using these international human rights mechanisms should be granted asylum. [Descriptors: Migration - Refugees and Immigration, International]