I posted about news on Nancy Arabillas Morales’ asylum claim I read in February’s edition of the Lesbian/Gay Law Notes here. In reading this month’s edition of the Notes, I also came across the news that Jorge Soto Vega, a gay Mexican man who had been previously denied U.S. asylum, can now make a permanent home for himself in the United States.

Vega was denied asylum in 2003 by Immigration Judge John D. Taylor, who stated at the time that Vega could return to Mexico because “it would not be obvious that he was homosexual unless he made it obvious himself.” The 9th Circuit panel disagreed with Judge Taylor’s ruling:

[T]he 9th Circuit panel, ruling in Soto Vega v. Attorney General, 183 Fed.Appx. 627, 2006 WL 1518945 (2006), found that as Soto Vega had provided sufficient evidence of past harassment in Mexico, the burden was the government to show that his subjective fear of persecution there was not well founded.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals told Judge Taylor that he had “applied an incorrect legal standard in denying U.S. asylum to [Vega].” This lead to Judge Taylor ruling on January 30, 2007, that Vega can stay in the United States permanently.

More on page 29 of February’s edition of the Lesbian/Gay Law Notes in “Immigration Judge Awards Asylum to Gay Mexican on Remand from 9th Circuit.”

A call for submissions via BeyondMasculinity.com:

Deadline extended until May 31st!

Gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer men’s gender identities often exist somewhere outside the traditional categories of “masculine” and “feminine.” Sissies, drag queens, and leather daddies alike play with gender in a way that cannot be accounted for in traditional understandings of maleness. This collection — part blog, part anthology, part audiobook — aims to shatter traditional understandings of maleness and point towards a new understanding of how queerness and gender intersect.

BEYOND MASCULINITY is looking for contributions in four key areas. Contributors should not feel bound by these categories – they should rather be seen as potential prompts:

• Identity Intersections: How do race, ability, class, and other kinds of identities and experiences intersect with gender and queerness — and how do these intersections complicate our relationship to traditional understandings of “maleness?”

• Feminism, Gender, and Politics: How can feminism inform our understanding of queer male gender? Can queer men be feminists? How can we use our queerness as a political tool? What does male privilege look like for queer men?

• Bodies, Desire, and Pleasure: What kinds of male bodies are desired? Fetishized? Where does sexual desire intersect with queer gender and how are these politics mapped out on our bodies?

• Queer Male Communities: How are our identities produced through our communities? How do the gender norms and politics of gay/bi/trans/queer male communities both liberate and constrain us?

We’re looking for queer male writers to step up and contribute their thoughts to this online project. This is not your typical bookstore anthology. It will be only available online – and it will be completely free of charge to the public. With its unique implementation of media, this anthology aims to change the way queer non-fiction is done.

I love what this anthology is about. And I love the idea of making audio recordings of contributors reading their essays available even more. So much so that audio recordings of Femmethology contributors reading their pieces may appear in the future!

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s some shocking news (with photographic evidence) circulating around the Internet: it appears that Antonella Barba, one of the 20 current contestants of season 6 of American Idol, has given a blow job. (I’m sure none of the other contestants ever have.)

So now there are all these conversations regarding whether Barba should be thrown off the show for this “indecent behavior” taking place. Hell, why not start another one: Do you think Antonella Barba should be thrown off American Idol because she let the wrong person possess pictures of her giving a blow job? That is what she did wrong – it wasn’t the blow job.

So if you’re a “straight” woman who is reading this queer blog and sleeping with other women you can find out what Rachel wants to talk about here. And don’t worry, you can be anonymous; there’s no danger of losing your “straightness.”

Some of you may have picked up the news of Nancy Arabillas Morales’ bid for asylum last month. An article in February’s edition of the Lesbian/Gay Law Notes goes into great detail about this case:

Morales, born Juan Manuel Arabillas Morales, began using the name Nancy and dressing as a woman at age 14 when she moved out of her abusive family’s home. She was arrested for working in a bar as a minor and placed in jail, where prison officials laughed and ignored her cries for help while she was raped by several inmates. When she attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, Morales was attacked and raped by seven men. She did not report the incident to the police for fear of being beaten or forced to pay a bribe. Morales eventually fled to the United States, where she has lived since 1986.

In April 2002, Morales was convicted of communication with a minor for immoral purposes. She had also been charged with third degree rape of a child and third degree child molestation,but was convicted only of communication with a minor. The Department of Homeland Security placed Morales in removal proceedings for being illegally present within the United States, and also for having been convicted of a crime “involving moral turpitude.” Morales applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under CAT, all of which were denied.

Nancy Arabillas Morales’ claim for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) was first denied by an Immigration Judge (IJ), and then by the Board of Immigration Appeals when she appealed the IJ’s decision. The Mexican male-to-female transsexual then appealed the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

In Morales v. Gonzales, 472F.3d 689 (9th Cir., Jan. 3, 2007), Judge David R. Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit remanded Morales’ claim for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) to the Board of Immigration Appeals to the IJ who originally denied the claim.

Judge Thompson’s holdings, according to Bryan Johnson’s summary in the Lesbian/Gay Law Notes:

Senior Circuit Judge David R. Thompson, writing for the court, held that the IJ had incorrectly relied on facts that did not relate to the crime for which Morales was convicted that were contained in the appellate court’s opinion affirming her conviction of communication with a minor, to determine that Morales had committed a “particularly serious” crime. The IJ had concluded that Morales would have been eligible for asylum and withholding of removal, “but for [the] finding that she had been convicted of a particularly serious crime.”

Judge Thompson also held that the IJ had failed to apply the correct legal standard to Morales’s CAT claim, because the IJ had only taken into consideration testimony establishing “direct government action”, but had ignored the “willful blindness” of the prison officials who had watched and laughed at Morales while she was repeatedly raped by fellow prison inmates.

The IJ must now “determine whether Morales committed a “particularly serious” crime barring her from an otherwise eligible asylum claim. In addition, the IJ must consider the “willful blindness” of prison officials in establishing whether it was “more likely than not” that Morales would be tortured if she were returned to Mexico.

According to Kenneth Ofgang’s article:

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ordered the Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider its order that a Mexican transsexual be removed to her native country, where she says she is likely to be physically abused because of her sex change.

The panel said the BIA erred in summarily affirming an immigration judge’s ruling that Nancy Arabillas Morales, who used to be Juan Manuel Arabillas Morales, does not qualify for asylum, withholding of removal, or relief under the Convention Against Torture.

Morales, the judges said, may qualify for relief based on a well-founded fear that she will be attacked because of her trangendered status. Morales testified that such attacks occurred in the past, and the court said the IJ erroneously relied on Morales’ admission that her attackers were not associated with the government.

You can read more details of Morales’ case on page 20 of February’s edition of the Lesbian/Gay Law Notes in “9th Circuit Grants Review of Mexican Transsexual’s Asylum Claim.”

I posted about Lambda Legal’s “Life Without Fair Courts” illustration contest here. Entries are due on March 15, 2007. Find out more about the contest by clicking on Lambda Legal’s ad in our sidebar.

See ya on Monday!

It’s been a wonderful two years around here. This blog’s most recent accomplishment, becoming a 2007 Bloggies finalist, was a completely unexpected and amazing surprise. I’ve also been able watch traffic triple since December 06:

2/12/07 – 2/18/07: 14,326 visitors, 7,504 unique visitors, 96,845 page views

01/07: 41,120 visits, 19,990 unique visitors, 379,817 page views

10/06 – 12/06: 52,585 visitors, 21,867 unique visitors, 182,985 page views

2006 (all): 203,875 visits, 80,912 unique visitors, 609,963 page views

06/05 – 12/05: 57,731 visitors, 17,172 unique visitors, 162,402 page views

I’ve had a great run with this site, but it’s time for me to give all my time and energy to other projects.

My last post here will be in the near future, possibly as soon as the first week of March. I will be starting conversations with potential buyers immediately.

The ideal purchaser of this site is someone with existing advertising contacts and/or agency connections for ad placement. At the present rate of growth, this site will be averaging 500,000 page views monthly by March; this sale is a perfect opportunity for someone to establish or extend a personal brand without having to start from scratch. This site’s domain name has been renewed through 2008. All software, script customization, images, posts, comments and site registrations are negotiable.

Interested parties should contact me here with any questions. I will respond to all inquiries within 48 hours.

If you have a blog, please link to this post to help spread the word that this site is for sale. The more people who know, the more attractive of a sale offer is possible. As my last post here draws closer, I’ll have more information for you on what’s next for DailyDoseofQueer.com.

Do you have a site for sale? Please also contact us and maybe we can combine the offers.

Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School is a film about a lesbian student’s fight to establish a gay-straight student alliance at a Jewish high school.

Shulamit Izen enters 9th grade at The New Jewish High School (now Gann Academy) longing to connect more deeply with her Jewish faith. She also starts school as an out lesbian. Using interviews with Shulamit, her family, teachers, and other students – both those who support her campaign and those who oppose it – the film allows the members of this community to tell their own story as it unfolds. What emerges is a potent story of Jewish pluralism and a community navigating the cross-currents of Jewish tradition and social change.

You can view the film’s trailer here. Locations of upcoming screenings are available at the film’s MySpace page.

Queercents has announced the launch of its weekly series titled Money Mondays. The series will offer tips and hints beneficial to surviving tax season.

You can read the first two installments of Money Mondays here and here.

Queercents is the host blog of the current edition of the Carnival of Bent Attractions. Don’t forget: submissions for the next edition of the Carnival of Bent Attractions, which will be hosted at Viviane’s Sex Carnival on March 10th, are due before 12:01AM on March 2nd.

NEW! Make sure you read through our new gay money section. 

Thanks for nominating Daily Dose of Queer for the 2006 Koufax Best Single Issue Blog Award, Winter!