Jamaican Gay Man Wins U.S. Asylum

A Jamaican gay man, Ven Messam, won asylum in the United States Nov. 8 because he had been threatened by anti-gay mobs on the island nation. 

With the assistance of Columbia University Law School’s new Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic, Messam convinced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that he faced persecution or death if forced to return to Jamaica.

“Within just the last month, gay Jamaicans have been murdered and the government has not intervened,” the clinic said in a statement. “Rampant rumors that hostile groups are plotting the social cleansing of hundreds of gay people by year’s end have forced countless GLBT people into hiding. Far from a tropical paradise, this Caribbean nation continues to imprison and kill its gay citizens with relative impunity.”

“I am grateful to the United States government for saving my life,” Messam said. “My life in Jamaica was constantly in danger, with angry mobs carrying machetes, stones, knives and guns threatening to kill me because I am gay. When I tried to contact the police for help, the police instead threatened to arrest me and told me to leave the country if I wanted to stay safe.”