Canada rejects aslyum for 'macho' gay man

Ottawa, ON, May. 4 (UPI) -- The Canadian Refugee Board has denied asylum to a Mexican homosexual because he is not "visibly effeminate" and therefore not vulnerable to persecution.

Fernando Enrique Rivera, 30, came to Canada four years ago after he was allegedly blackmailed by colleagues in the Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, police department.

In December 2002 the Immigration and Refugee Board concluded: "Effeminate gestures come naturally and unconsciously. ... If he were indeed visibly effeminate, he would have been (un)able to easily land a job with the 'macho' police force of Puerto Vallarta."

The IRB only offers protection to effeminate or HIV-positive men, as well as political activists and whistle blowers from Mexico, the Globe and Mail reported.

A federal court upheld the board's decision in April, and Rivera now faces deportation if his final appeal on humanitarian grounds is rejected.

"I know some gay refugees who put on lipstick and dressed effeminately ... because they thought it would help their case. But that is not who I am," Rivera said. "You don't choose to be gay. It's not like being a vegetarian. It's a very complex thing."