Morales v. Gonzalez
472 F.3d 689 (9th Cir. 2007)
Morales v. Gonzalez is the only published decision in the asylum realm that uses the term “male-to-female transsexual” rather than “gay man with female sexual identity” employed in prior cases.
Morales is a native of Mexico who began dressing as a woman and working at a bar at the age of 15. She was arrested for working in a bar as a minor on two occasions, and on one of these occasions, was raped while in jail, with her cries for help going unanswered.
While much of the decision analyzes Morales’s statutory eligibility for asylum and withholding because of a crime she committed in the United States, the court also found that the IJ and BIA had employed the wrong standard in her CAT claim. The court remanded for consideration of all claims, particularly the fact that the IJ’s decision had made no reference to the police’s role in failing to protect Morales while she was in jail, and instead actually laughing and ignoring her screams while she was raped.
The case is important in that Morales’s claim for protection was based directly on her transsexual identity, without the court finding any need to tie the harm she suffered explicitly to her sexual orientation.
This is the first in a line of Ninth Circuit transgender cases where the applicant who identifies as female is referred to in the decision by the female pronoun.
Morales is a native of Mexico who began dressing as a woman and working at a bar at the age of 15. She was arrested for working in a bar as a minor on two occasions, and on one of these occasions, was raped while in jail, with her cries for help going unanswered.
While much of the decision analyzes Morales’s statutory eligibility for asylum and withholding because of a crime she committed in the United States, the court also found that the IJ and BIA had employed the wrong standard in her CAT claim. The court remanded for consideration of all claims, particularly the fact that the IJ’s decision had made no reference to the police’s role in failing to protect Morales while she was in jail, and instead actually laughing and ignoring her screams while she was raped.
The case is important in that Morales’s claim for protection was based directly on her transsexual identity, without the court finding any need to tie the harm she suffered explicitly to her sexual orientation.
This is the first in a line of Ninth Circuit transgender cases where the applicant who identifies as female is referred to in the decision by the female pronoun.