Suella Braverman doubles down on LGBTQ asylum views as she responds to Elton John
The UK's Home Secretary has actually said that "people purport to be gay when they’re not actually gay"
The UK’s Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has responded to Sir Elton John’s claim that her views on LGBTQ asylum seekers lack “compassion.” In doing so she has doubled down on her remarks.
Braverman made a speech in Washington DC on Tuesday (26 September) calling for the UN Refugee Convention to be updated. She argued that being gay and fearing discrimination wasn’t enough to qualify for asylum.
Afterward, the British musical icon said the government official was also “legitimising hate and violence.”
As per The Independent, Braverman said “I don’t think that is true,” when asked if she lacked compassion.
Citing “unprecedented levels of illegal migration,” Braverman went on to reiterate that it was something, “the UK cannot sustain.” This also applied, she said, to legal migration.
She added: “It’s indeed the prudent thing for political leaders to call this out and take steps to address it.”
Speaking to ITV News, Braverman, whose comments have been also described by Sir Ian McKellen as “laced with a good dollop of prejudice,” doubled down on her anti-LGBTQ sentiment by claiming that “people purport to be gay when they’re not actually gay” when claiming asylum.
Braverman’s comments have been slammed by many, besides Sirs Elton and Ian.
The ex-head of Stonewall, Nancy Kelley, labelled them as “disgusting anti refugee homophobic muck raking.”
Rainbow Migration, a charity that helps LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum, called on Braverman to “stop her cruel rhetoric.” It also pointed to the government’s own statistics showing that only 2% of 2022 asylum claims included sexual orientation.
Meanwhile, Attitude Pride Award winner Dr. S Chelvan, the Head of Immigration and Public Law at 33 Bedford Row, has specialised in the field of LGBTQ+ asylum since 2001 and has told Attitude he knows of no reported cases to back Braverman’s claims.