Spain to offer asylum to sex bias victims

If you think you are suffering from discrimination at your job because of your gender or sexual orientation and you feel that nobody seems to be doing anything about it, then Spain could be the place for you.

In an unprecedented move, the Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero wants to include sexual discrimination as a basis for granting asylum in Spain. The bill would enhance the current 1984 immigration law and would grant immediate asylum to anyone in the world who feels they are being discriminated in their home country because of gender bias or sexual orientation. The new law would also propose giving protection and prohibiting the deportation of persons who don´t all ready have refugee status but feel that they will suffer at the hands of authorities because of sexual bias if they return to their homeland.

"The government is ready to give the green light to one of the most progressive pieces of legislation when it comes to granting asylum despite that the worldwide tendency is to take an opposite approach," read Monday´s El País which gave exclusive details of the bill. The newspaper, however, didn´t say when Zapatero´s PSOE party would introduce the bill in the Chamber of Deputies.

By approving gay marriage, easing restrictions in obtaining a divorce, and allowing some 300,000 illegal immigrants to file for residency papers early last year with no questions asked, the prime minister is seen by many in his country as a champion of human rights and equal protection under the law. The opposition right-of-center Partido Popular or People´s Party has criticized Zapatero for making it easier to obtain Spanish residency as well as other laws that are contrary to traditional Catholic views. Zapatero´s proposed immigration policies also have many European Union leaders on edge because once a migrant´s status is legalized in Spain that person has the right to move to any EU country.