Karen Doyle

By Karen Doyle Like so many other lesbians in African nations where homosexuality is illegal, Proscovia faced a constant pressure to conform, to marry, to have a boyfriend. In 1996, she was pressured into a relationship with a man who became her rapist. Despite all of the pressure she had several lesbian relationships, from one with another girl in boarding school in her teens to maintaining a relationship with a woman for a year and a half in 1998. Her sexuality had to be hidden, her relationships secret; a constant fear of discovery accompanied her daily. UK Immigration decision makers and judges in Proscovia’s case have shown a complete disdain for lesbian relationships, in one case accusing Proscovia’s long term girlfriend of “exaggerating the lesbian aspect of their relationship”. The original decision maker found that the fact Proscovia used a contraceptive implant as proof that she must be lying about her sexuality. In fact Proscovia was both terrified of being raped again and...