For much of the past decade, until the federal government decided to impose a visa, the leading refugee-producing country for Canada was our democratic neighbour Mexico, and one large subset of those claimants were, or purported to be, gay, saying they were subject to homophobic attacks.
Many of these claims were ultimately rejected, but not before contributing to a backlog. And some succeeded. In 2007, for example, a Montreal refugee panel branded Mexico a "homophobic society." It is worth noting, then, the news that Mexico City is offering a free honeymoon to the first gay or lesbian couple to marry under Argentina's new liberal marriage laws.
On Thursday, Argentina became the first Latin American nation to legalize same-sex marriage. It is a welcome reform, but it's not the first jurisdiction in Latin America to do so. Mexico City itself already permitted gay marriage, had removed obstacles to gay adoptions and has for years had a flourishing gay district and a major annual Pride parade.
There is no doubt that homophobic sentiment exists in Mexico, and there is no doubt that there have been homophobic crimes in Mexico. The same can be said of many countries, although the culture of machismo surely does make living an openly gay life a challenge. But the fact remains that there was then, and exists now, an internal flight alternative. There was no reason for gay Mexicans to seek refugee status in Canada, less still for gullible panels to go along with it. Little wonder the federal government felt compelled to act.