Thought I would pass along to you TransGriot readers the wonderful news that Fernanda Milan has been granted asylum in Denmark on November 26.
She did not publicize the news according to ILGA Europe at the time because she is angry that she was forced to go through lengthy and grueling proceedings.
Asylum was even denied to her in the beginning with the reversal happening only days before she was scheduled to be deported from Denmark.
She got a right to be angry considering the European Union Parliament adopted asylum standards in October 2011 stating EU member nations must now include gender identity as a ground of persecution and take it into account when they make decisions to grant or deny asylum status to people seeking it
Stine Larsen, of the T-Refugee Project says:
“We are very relieved that our struggle, together with Fernanda, ended in her being granted asylum. But it has been a soul-destroying asylum process with an initial refusal which was then reversed just three days before her scheduled departure on September 17, 2012. Fernanda has needed time and space to recover from this ordeal. That’s why we are only publicizing the good news now.”
“I am very grateful to all the people who have helped me to fight, because in the end I could not have done it on my own.” said Fernanda.
“I have been a transgender person all my life. And I have been fighting against prejudice as long as I remember. I had to flee from Guatemala because I was fighting for human rights. Now I have the chance to live my life as a woman and an activist. Now I want to keep on the fight for a better world, where everybody can educate, work, create families and live a dignifying life regardless of their gender identity,”
Amen Fernanda, and congratulations. Denmark should be proud to have someone like you residing inside its borders.
[alert type=”info”]Cross-posted from TransGriot[/alert]