Facebook, the online social network, is being used as a tool by some claimants to help prove their sexual orientation to immigration officials in Canada, Pink News reports.
"Sexuality has always been very complicated and when you have to prove it as a matter of life and death you will use any resource you have available to you," Diego Macias of Among Friends, a Toronto-based gay and lesbian refugee support group, told The Canadian Press.
Those seeking refuge after 1992 were permitted to claim status based on their sexual orientation and required to prove their claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
Wearing their sexuality on their sleeve was never an option for many back in their home countries and finding suitable evidence to support their claims can be difficult.
Macias tells his members to use technology to their advantage and feels facebook can help demonstrate involvement in the gay and lesbian community.
"During Pride we took hundreds of pictures and we have a facebook group and when people sign up to that group we encourage them to show their membership to the IRB member."
In more than 75 countries people face jail, or worse, for having gay sex.
Acts of homosexuality are punishable by death in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sudan.
"Sexuality has always been very complicated and when you have to prove it as a matter of life and death you will use any resource you have available to you," Diego Macias of Among Friends, a Toronto-based gay and lesbian refugee support group, told The Canadian Press.
Those seeking refuge after 1992 were permitted to claim status based on their sexual orientation and required to prove their claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
Wearing their sexuality on their sleeve was never an option for many back in their home countries and finding suitable evidence to support their claims can be difficult.
Macias tells his members to use technology to their advantage and feels facebook can help demonstrate involvement in the gay and lesbian community.
"During Pride we took hundreds of pictures and we have a facebook group and when people sign up to that group we encourage them to show their membership to the IRB member."
In more than 75 countries people face jail, or worse, for having gay sex.
Acts of homosexuality are punishable by death in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sudan.
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- LindseyIndigo
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- added August 05, 2008
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