We the undersigned have heard of cases of bisexual men and women being denied asylum on the grounds of their sexuality, because the UK appears to assume either that they are lying about their sexuality, or that
bisexuals need not fear homophobic persecution in their countries of
origin. In particular we are concerned about Orashia Edwards, who has
been denied asylum at a recent judicial review.

It has come to our awareness that Bisexuals asylum seekers get very little or no support and advocacy with their application, especially because many organisations and legal teams have very little to work with when it comes to Bisexuality, compare to lesbians and gay asylum seekers. More so, we are also alarmed to hear of cases where bisexuals are not allowed to claim asylum on grounds of sexuality. This appears to be an
example of "bisexual invisibility" - the way in which doubt is cast on
the existence of bisexuality in a way that it isn’t for lesbian, gay or
heterosexual people, despite clear evidence that large numbers of people
identify as bisexual, and that an even greater proportion of people are
attracted to people of more than one gender - that is putting lives at risk.

We call upon the Government to:
1. accept that bisexuals can be at risk of persecution on grounds of
sexuality and thus entitled to claim asylum, bearing in mind that UK
legislation covers both people's actual and perceived sexual orientation
2. reconsider the case of Bisexual asylum seekers such as Orashia Edwards as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely,

[list of names]