Replay in Roanoke.When Armen Grigoryan fled his native Armenia in search of asylum in the United States The United States honors the right of asylum of individuals as specified by international and federal law. A specified number of legally defined refugees, who either apply for asylum overseas or after arriving in the U.S., are admitted annually. , he thought he had left homophobia behind. That is, until August 1, when two men attacked him, his partner, and his church pastor as they left their church in Roanoke, Va. The assault occurred little more than a week after drifter Ronald Gay was sentenced to four life terms for a shooting that killed one person and injured six others at the Backstreet backstreet Noun a street in a town far from the main roads Adjective denoting secret or illegal activities: a backstreet abortion backstreet n Cafe, a Roanoke gay bar, last September. [See related story on page 46.] Witnesses of the August I incident said the attackers began hitting Grigoryan and Richard Justus at about 8:30 P.M. "They kept yelling, `Fucking faggots, get out of our town,'" said the Rev. Catherine Houchins of the predominantly gay Metropolitan Community Church of the Blue Ridge Blue Ridge, eastern range of the Appalachian Mts., extending south from S Pa. to N Ga.; highest mountains in the E United States. Mt. Mitchell, 6,684 ft (2,037 m) high, is the tallest peak. Beginning with a narrow ridge in the north, c. . One of the men also struck Houchins in the face when she called 911 on her mobile telephone. No one was seriously injured. Earlier that day, Grigoryan, 28, and Justus, 36, met with an immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. officer in Washington, D.C., to discuss Grigoryan's upcoming hearing for asylum based on his sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. . Grigoryan said that in his homeland even acknowledging homosexuality could land someone in jail. But he was optimistic that "in the United States I would be safe." |
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