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Question: What are challenges that LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers face that cisgender, heterosexual asylum seekers don't face?

Answer (A.S.):"This is a great opportunity to dive into the lives of people who go through a lot. We are born into and raised having families of male and female, and this is rooted in culture and religion; that's how family is supposed to be designed. It's so hard when you're raised in that environment, and you definitely know you're different, but you can't express that difference because of fear. Fear is one that really attacks our mind and bodies. It does a lot. It prevents us from achieving a lot because it seems like an imprisonment.

Heterosexual asylum seekers have a lot of opportunities where it's so easy for them to get connected to the community, versus non-heterosexual asylum seekers who have experienced a lot of different things that they themselves can speak for themselves. Some of them are general, some of them are specific, depending on what they've gone through. Because they want to conceal their identity, they do not have a community. Being born and raised from a different country, from a different culture, combining all those elements, putting them up together is so hard.

There is no community, you know, in a foreign [country for] LGBTIA person. It takes a while to get involved in a community that understands you or that you understand them. That takes support, support that no one has had growing up. It's so easy for someone with support, but so difficult for someone without support. This comes from people are very much filled with doubt. You don't know who you can trust and who you cannot trust. This comes back to the fear factor, that affects a lot of people, including myself. It could be easier said than done, but that's how it is."

Question: How can lawyers representing LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers respect those needs? What are some of the best practices?

Answer (Dan Supalla, attorney): "The last part of what A.S. had to say, coming from a place where you don't have a community is really difficult. You know, we take it for granted here, certainly in Minneapolis, but, you know, in other parts of the United States where we have a big gay community. I have a lot of gay friends who I can hangout with and get support from. So, recognizing that people are coming from a place where they don't have that kind of support. Often times, it is a place where being LGBTIQ may be illegal. Certainly, there are, you know like what Al said, cultural factors at play, but legal issues too. There are specific laws on the books that make consensual same-sex practices illegal.

People are coming from a place where there is a lot of fear, a lot of shame. I think one of the most import things a lawyer can do that is taking on one of these sorts of cases is to learn as much as you can about that person's country of origin yourself. So, before you even meet with the person, you want to go find out - pull the U.S. State Department country reports, they talk about human rights issues going on. And, at least all of the ones I've looked at recently, in the section where they talk about human rights there is always a section on LGBTIQ+ rights and conditions in the country. You can read about things that have happened in the country, and about things that have happened to specific people. Then you can look at, you know, just run a Google search of whatever country the person is coming from and "LGBTIQ+ rights" and you'll get a tone of news stories about what is happening in the country. Sometimes you'll find great stories from U.S. news sources, other times, you'll find things from other international sources.

There's a ton of reporting that you can go and read and review to learn about what's going on in someone's country. So, when you meet them for the first time, you have a better sense of where they're coming from and what's going on. Then you can talk about what you've learned, and that helps to build the trust between you and your client. So, they can understand that you are interested, taken the time to learn about where they are coming from and what kinds of things are going on in their country, and that makes it easier for them to open up and talk to you about what's going on in their own lives.

I think the other thing is that you have to be really patient. Cases for LGBTIQ+ people and political asylum are a little bit different in that you have to be really patient in working with your client. I think there's a more particular kind of trauma that people suffer when they're persecuted because of their identity. Whether they're out, whether they have a small community of friends and no one else really knows about their identity. It's such a personal thing that you must be patient with people who haven't had the opportunity, like people in the United States have, to come out and be accepted by your family. When I came out, my family was great - the fear was really unfounded for me. People don't have those kinds of experiences. Understanding that there is going to be a difference between those experiences [accepting versus not] and being patient with people and letting them open up on their own timeline, I think is really important. It may take more meetings, more time to get to know one another. Once you build that trust I think it helps alleviate a lot of the fear, and a lot of the fear people come with.

The last thing I'd say is that part of representing LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers is not just doing the legal work, but also helping people find a community, or find people they can talk to who are, you know, not lawyers, but other folks that can help build their own community so they can have a support system. I'll tell you that going through the asylum process is very difficult and if you don't have a community of people to support you, it can be even more difficult."