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Venn Messam, a gay Jamaican man who sought asylum in the United States on the grounds that he feared persecution - because of his sexual orientation - if forced to return to Jamaica, was granted asylum by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on November 8, 2007.
Messam enlisted assistance from students at Columbia Law School's Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic and since September of last year, four students provided legal assistance in preparing their client's application for asylum. Simrin Parmar '08, Jennifer Stark '09, Jonathan Lieberman '08, and Eileen Plaza '09 spent many months conducting interviews, drafting affidavits, researching country conditions, filling out necessary forms, accompanying their client to the New York asylum office, and providing assistance during his interview.
Columbia Law School's report on this breakthrough for Messam, speaks of the climate in Jamaica for homosexuals, bisexuals and trans-gendered people, as being shrouded in danger that gets worse daily. Citing incidents specific to Messam, such as his own declaration that, "My life in Jamaica was constantly in danger, with angry mobs carrying machetes, stones, knives, and guns, threatening to kill me because I am gay," as well as uncovering a rampant rumour that hostile groups in Jamaica are plotting the social cleansing of hundreds of gay people by year's end, the report categorizes Jamaica as being 'far from a tropical paradise.'
"Within just the last month, gay Jamaicans have been murdered and the government has not intervened...this Caribbean nation continues to imprison and kill its gay citizens with relative impunity," the report from Columbia Law School added.
Reportedly relieved at this life saving event, Messam stated, "I am grateful to the United States government for saving my life."
