[LINK] "Fearful of attacks, more LGBT Russians seeking US asylum"

[rfmcdonald]

Al Jazeera America's Lori Jane Gliha reports on LGBT Russian refugees seeking refuge in the United States.

Attorneys at Immigration Equality, a New York City nonprofit that offers legal services to the LGBT community and HIV-positive asylum seekers, say their caseloads have skyrocketed from 50 to 60 requests for assistance from Russian gays in 2011 and 2012 to 180 requests last year.

Many are trying to escape violent situations that arose following a 2013 law preventing gays from speaking about their sexuality or participating in public displays of affection in front of minors. The government labels that behavior “propaganda.”

“They felt unsafe in Russia,” said Aaron Morris, Immigration Equality's legal director. “Once these laws began to pass, for a lot of them, it was the last straw. I mean, they couldn’t take it anymore.”

However, it's nearly impossible to pinpoint how many gay Russians have sought and received asylum. Granting asylum is a secretive process involving many court documents that are not subject to U.S. public records laws. Also, some asylum cases can last for years while others take mere months.

The U.S. grants asylum on the basis of five categories: race, religion, nationality, political opinion and social group. Justice Department and Homeland Security officials said they could not reveal what percentage of asylum seekers identified as gay.