How do I convince the Home Office I am a lesbian? (BBC) (27 February 2020)

Immigration director Zofia Duszynska is featured in the BBC’s account of Angel’s story about how she fled Zimbabwe in fear of her life after police discovered that she was a lesbian five years ago. Since fleeing, Angel (not their real name) has had to convince the Home Office that she is gay. The Home Office's decision on whether to grant or refuse asylum depends on whether the interviewer finds the asylum-seeker's account authentic and believable - but each interviewer may have his or her own assumptions about what an authentic and believable account should look like. Zofia comments on how interviewers previously had a tendency to ask intrusive questions about sexual behaviour; “Now rather than physical descriptions, decision-makers require an emotional journey, for applicants to describe how they discovered they were gay and the emotional impact on them.”