2023 RLLR 215

Citation: 2023 RLLR 215
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: October 5, 2023
Panel: Abbas Kwofie
Counsel for the Claimant(s): El-Farouk Khaki
Country: Mexico
RPD Number: TC3-27739
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2024-01133
ATIP Pages: N/A

DECISION 

[1]                   MEMBER: So, these are the reasons for the decision in the claim of XXXX XXXX XXXX, a citizen of Mexico in RPD file TC3-27739. I have considered the testimony and the evidence presented. You allege persecution based on your sexual orientation as a gay man, as a result of the homophobic environment in Mexico. I have considered the Chairperson’s Guideline 9 on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics. I find that you are a Convention refugee as you have established a serious possibility of persecution, should you return to Mexico.

[2]                   With respect to your identity, I find that your identity as a national of Mexico is established by the documents provided, including a true copy of your Mexican passport on file, along with other identity documents that you tendered and Exhibit 7. 

Suspected nexus

[3]                   There is a link between this claim and a Convention ground as part of a particular social group, you being a gay male. Therefore, I am assessing this claim under section 96. 

[4]                   With respect to credibility, I found you to be a credible witness. Your testimony overall was clear and consistent with the written narrative and the evidence on file. You established your sexual orientation as you define it, being a gay male. You testified today about your experiences in school, where you were made fun of, and that you — and you also testified that you played with dolls with your female friends growing up, you also noted that from this point on, people would be — would start to call you derogatory names. You testified further to that from a young age — that you were told from a young age by your parents that playing the dolls was bad. You noted that you began to feel different, meaning that you started to find boys attractive during elementary school and that at the age of 14 is when you realized that your sexuality could not be changed. 

[5]                   You spoke candidly about some of your relationships with Mexico, with XXXX (ph), with XXXX (ph), with XXXX (ph), and XXXX (ph), and you told me about the problems that you had as a result of these relationships, even from something as simple as hugging. With respect to your family, you testified about your family finding out about your sexuality in 2006 and that as a result of this, there was a falling out with your family. This included your family’s decision to stop supporting you, and you testified that there were fights with your parents as well. Specifically, with respect to your family, you also testified that your mother mentioned to you that she was praying to God to give her a normal son and that she wanted grandchildren. You also noted that although your parents have started to accept your sexual orientation, they do not ask a lot of questions about it. 

[6]                   With respect to your life in Canada, you spoke at length about the differences between living in Canada and Mexico with respect to how you immediately noticed that upon landing at the airport — sorry, about with respect to how you immediately noticed the difference from when you landed at the airport. You spoke about how people were able to hug in public without being disturbed and that if you were to do that in Mexico, people would give you rude gestures and make homophobic slurs. You testified in addition about your activities in Canada, such as being part of the XXXX gay choir and that you would never see that kind of thing in Mexico. You also testified that in Mexico, living as a gay person means hiding your sexuality from the police, from people in general, and that in Canada you are able to witness people who were proud of who they were and people celebrating their sexuality. 

[7]                   You also testified that although you are not currently in any relationship in Canada, you continue to meet people. With respect to your employment issues in Mexico, you also testified about how you lost your job for being gay and that your work colleagues were leaving hateful messages on your car and puncturing your tires. Your testimony today was supported by the personal disclosure that you tendered in Exhibits 5, 6, 8 — 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, which include support letters from family and friends, photographs, your activities in Canada, including your dating profiles, Toronto Pride photos, a letter from your — and a letter from your psychotherapist, amongst many other documents which corroborate your profile as a gay man and the problems that you experienced as a result of your sexual orientation in Mexico. I find that these are probative, relevant, and I give them full weight. 

[8]                   The objective evidence and the country condition documents that you disclosed in Exhibit 10 supports your claim today. The objective country condition evidence notes that conservative attitudes prevail in Mexico and public displays of affection are not considered socially acceptable, and this is from NDP Item 6.1, the September 29th, 2023 version. The objective evidence also indicates that while there has been legislative improvement, there continues to be harassment and discrimination of sexual minorities by society. The SOGIESC Guideline states that individuals with diverse SOGIESC may also face instances of harassment or discrimination that cumulatively amount to persecution. The Guideline goes further to provide a non-exhaustive list of factors to consider regarding cumulative discrimination amounting to persecution, including restrictions on employment, social services, health care and harassment by police. 

[9]                   I find that you have established that you would face cumulative discrimination amounting to persecution if you return to Mexico, owing to your sexual orientation. The objective evidence also indicates significant human rights issues, including reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings by police, military and other government officials, forced disappearances by government agents, torture and degrading treatment by security forces, arbitrary arrest and detention, insufficient investigation of the accountability for gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex persons. Impunity and extremely low rates of prosecution remains a problem for all crimes, including human rights abuses, and this comes from the NDP package for Mexico in Item 2.1, and this is from the same version, September 29th, 2023 version. 

[10]                   Based on the totality of the evidence, I find that although there is some mixed evidence and some evidence of efforts by the state to make improvements, there continues to be an absence of operationally effective state protection available to sexual minorities, sexual minorities such as yourself. Further, given the absence of operationally effective state protection and the prevalence of homophobia and violence against sexual minorities in Mexico, including by the police, I find that you would face a serious possibility of persecution throughout Mexico, and it is not objectively reasonable in all the circumstances, including your particular circumstances, to relocate. I conclude that you are a Convention refugee pursuant to section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Accordingly, I accept your claim. 

——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———