CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
We need your help
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.
Australia's highest court on Tuesday ordered immigration officials to reconsider asylum claims from two Bangladeshi men who fled their homeland saying they were being persecuted there because they are a gay couple. The men's lawyer, Bruce Levet, said the case had set a legal precedent by recognizing that prejudice against homosexuality could be the basis for a refugee claim. "I think it will have a significant impact, not only in Australia but internationally, because our jurisprudence is something that's looked to by courts of other refugee receiving states," he said. Refugee status is normally granted on grounds of political persecution. The men, who had lived together in Bangladesh since 1994, fled to Australia in 1999 and applied for protection as refugees from gay persecution. Their names have not been released. When Australia's Refugee Review Tribunal rejected their application, the men appealed to the Federal Court of Australia, which in February 2002 upheld the tribunal's ruling. On Tuesday, the High Court, Australia's final court of appeal, ruled by a 4-3 majority that the refugee tribunal should have considered what might happen to the men if they lived openly as a gay couple in Bangladesh. The court said the tribunal must look again at the men's case and consider whether they would suffer harm from police, their employers, or others if their homosexuality was made public. Levet told the High Court earlier this year that after being exposed as a gay couple in Bangladesh his clients had been ostracized by their families and community and were stoned and whipped. Their local Islamic council issued a fatwah, or death sentence, against them, Levet claimed. The refugee tribunal earlier ruled that the men had conducted themselves discreetly in the past and rejected their claims that they had suffered and would continue to suffer serious harm if they were returned to Bangladesh. It was not immediately known when the tribunal would reassess the men's claim.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Watch Now: Pride Today
Latest Stories
Appeals court rules transgender Florida teacher cannot use female pronouns in school
July 04 2025 7:00 AM
How dark will our skies be on July 4, 2026?
July 04 2025 6:00 AM
Queer subtext in Disney's 'Elio' was reportedly cut by Pixar
July 03 2025 12:30 PM
BREAKING: Supreme Court to decide whether states can ban transgender women & girls from sports
July 03 2025 10:02 AM
True
Who was Jimmy Swaggart, the late, anti-LGBTQ+, disgraced televangelist?
July 02 2025 5:40 PM
Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down abortion ban from 1849
July 02 2025 11:55 AM
The deadly 'big beautiful' budget bill will turn America into a morgue
July 02 2025 11:28 AM