U.K. Supreme Court Grants Gay Men Asylum

The U.K. Supreme Court has granted asylum to two men who fear persecution in their countries for being gay.

The two men appealed a previous ruling that required the men to return to their respective home countries of Cameroon and Iran, according to BBC News. A decision from the court of appeal said the men did not need asylum because they could protect themselves by being more discreet about their sexuality.

The U.K. Supreme Court disagreed, ruling it was unjust to make someone conceal his or her sexual orientation.

"To compel a homosexual person to pretend that his sexuality does not exist or suppress the behavior by which to manifest itself is to deny his fundamental right to be who he is," said Lord Hope, as he read the Supreme Court decision. "Homosexuals are as much entitled to freedom of association with others who are of the same sexual orientation as people who are straight."

The court overturned the "reasonably tolerable" clause instituted by the court of appeal, which said the lives of gay people could be "reasonably tolerable" if they did not reveal their sexuality in homophobic countries.

The man from Cameroon fled after he was attacked when an antigay crowd saw him kissing his partner. The Iranian man was assaulted and kicked out of school for being gay.