First case in Italy of a "gay" residence permit. It is that of Mohammed, 24 year old immigrant from Senegal, which he obtained from the Justice of the Peace of Turin, Giuliana Bologna, a ruling that decrees, for the first time in Italy, that he cannot be expelled from our country because, as a homosexual, he would be prosecuted under the law of his country of origin.

Gay couple

“This is an unprecedented decision and an encouraging sign — comments the national president of Arcigay, Sergio Lo Giudice – Italian institutions must recognize that homosexual people are often prosecuted by law, sometimes with the death penalty and imprisonment, in many countries around the world. It is the duty of all free and civilized countries to welcome and protect people fleeing racist repression and seeking hospitality.

""Arcigay – adds Lo Giudice – welcomes and relaunches the appeal launched today by Paolo Hutter – the Green Party representative who presented Mohammed's case at a press conference this morning – We invite homosexual people who have come to our country to escape persecution and repression to contact our offices. We will be at their side in seeking political asylum or, at least, in appealing against 'expulsion.'.

“This sentence — observes Raffaele Lelleri, sociologist specialized in immigration issues, consultant for Arcigay — is the result of the partial rejection by the Constitutional Court of the Bossi-Fini law on immigration. The Constitutional Court has in fact mandated that immigrants subject to expulsion orders be guaranteed a court ruling. The Government has mandated that this task be assigned to the Justice of the Peace. This is an important first ruling.

In four Islamic countries homosexuals are still subjected to death penaltyIran, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, and Sudan. Twenty other Muslim countries still harshly punish homosexual acts. Homosexual relations remain a crime in another 70 countries, including China. A resolution to defend the human rights of homosexuals was proposed to the UN last year by Brazil, but it was withdrawn, faced with the muted opposition of the Vatican and many Islamic countries.

Arcigay is active in the fight against anti-gay discrimination, including in foreign communities and in multicultural settings. For two years, for example, it coordinated, through Lelleri, the European program Quba, to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and ethnic origin. The biennial program ran from 2003 to 2004. Quba's goal was to professionalize anti-discrimination center staff with a horizontal approach, addressing cross-cutting discrimination across multiple aspects of the individual. The European program involved approximately 415 people from approximately 60 different gay and immigrant associations in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.

Thanks to the European QUBA project, of which Arcigay is a partner, the Yahoo discussion group MIGRA_GLB was launched a few months ago. The group aims to exchange information, suggestions, experiences, and materials on gay, lesbian, and bisexual migrants.

The group is aimed at GLB migrants, the Italian GLB community and all those who work with migrants in our country.

If you are interested, please sign up at this address

http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/migra_glb

Press release by Franco Grillini and Sergio Lo Giudice

Rome, February 4, 2005

There are at least four countries where homosexuality is punishable by death and as many as 80 countries where homosexuality is punishable by prison.

In Italy, homosexuals from those countries have the right to asylum under the 1951 Geneva Convention, which our country has adopted and is protected by other international conventions.

We invite all non-EU homosexuals from those countries to seek asylum.

To do so, you can contact Arcigay offices, which offer legal assistance, information, and support for regularization.

You can also contact non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and Caritas.

We recall that a draft comprehensive law on the right to asylum is currently being debated in Parliament, which explicitly lists discrimination based on sexual orientation among the grounds for seeking asylum.

We also reiterate our disappointment at Minister Calderoli's offensive, homophobic, and racist statements.

Franco Grillini, DS MP, Honorary President of Arcigay
Sergio Lo Giudice, National President of Arcigay