Yep; I’ve lost count.

Samuel Kyambadde, a gay, African refugee claimant, has been denied a home in Canada and will be deported back to Uganda where homosexuality is illegal.

Samuel is one of many delegates who came to Canada for the International AIDS Conference in 2006 and then applied for refugee status. Unlike most claimants, however, Samuel based his claim on the fact that he is gay and therefore faces persecution if he returns to Africa. The Immigration and Refugee Board rejected the plea because they said Samuel “lacked credibility.”

Gay claimants are particularly unlucky in obtaining refugee status in Canada. Possibly due to scattered fake gay claims, Canadian officials appear to require substantial evidence of the claimants’ sexual orientation—a trait that must be carefully hidden in many claimants’ home country to avoid persecution. It’s a no-win situation, and something that Immigration Minister Diane Finley has been happy to avoid addressing.

If you’d like to write Diane Finley, she may be reached at Finley.D@parl.gc.ca. You won’t get so much as a form reply from her office, but perhaps if she gets enough emails, she’ll actually create one with which she can dismiss all our pleas in the future.

Update: Slap reader Matthew writes in to say that, apparently, Diane Finley hasn’t been our immigration minister since October, and it is now Jason Kenney. How embarrassing! These things change too frequently; if only there were a way to completely freeze parliament and make sure nothing changes in Canadian politics… Oh wait.

• Gay refugee claim tossed out [Canoe CNews]

Looks like Alvaro isn’t the only gay refugee desperately trying to stay in Canada to avoid homophobia and violence. Leonardo Zuniga, a gay Mexican, is slated for deportation from Canada after exhausting all avenues for appeal.

Unlike Alvaro’s case, immigration officials don’t seem to doubt Leonardo’s gayness, but homosexuality isn’t illegal in Mexico making proof of immediate threat difficult. Nonetheless, it would be a shame if Leonardo is deported; Mexico has the second-highest anti-gay crime rate in the world, and we’d be losing an upstanding community member. While in Canada, Leonardo has won both the David Barker Maltby Award for photography and the Youth Line Award for Queer Youth Activism.

Leonardo’s last hope for citizenship relies on Immigration Minister Diane Finley officially blocking the deportation order. Considering her enthusiasm level for Alvaro’s case, I wouldn’t count on it.

If you’d like to get involved in the case, check out Leonardo’s website.

Alvaro’s too, while you’re at it.

• Gay Mexican pleads to stay [Toronto Star]

A discriminatory law from 2004 that disallowed same-sex spouses from sponsoring their partner for Canadian citizenship was quietly overturned by the Conservative government last week. In fact, the law was reversed so quietly, that it was announced by none other than NDP MP, Bill Siksay.

“Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley has informed the Standing Committee of Citizenship and Immigration that her department’s interim policy on same sex marriage [...] has been annulled,” Siksay said in a press release, adding: “This is another important victory towards full equality of gay and lesbian Canadians.”

Now, there’s no word on why the Conservatives didn’t announce this change themselves, although I guess I could try to share some insight. Let’s see… They, uh, outsourced their policy announcements to the NDP?

No?

Well, perhaps Siksay’s voice resounds with Canadians more. Or—Oh! I know! The parties are merging! The New Canadian Democratic Conservative Reform Alliance. Yes, that sounds about right to me.

• Ottawa ends discrimination for same-sex couples married outside Canada [Canada.com]
• Siksay claims victory on Canadian recognition of gay and lesbian marriages performed outside Canada [Bill Siksay, NDP]