That’s a good question. [He laughs.] I’ve always felt quite a calling. I was drawn to the legal world from a very young age: at first, it was through the typical films; later I began to take a more serious interest. It was also because of my more activist side: I have always been motivated by the idea that my work can help make things better, to fight for rights and freedoms and make the world a little more just, even if it is only one small part.

I have always been motivated by the idea that my work can help make things better, to fight for rights and freedoms and make the world a little more just

The main thing I took away was the people I met. First, my friends, who came from very different backgrounds, both socially and in terms of their origin, but also, especially, ideologically. The discussions we had, at and outside the university, helped me grow a lot as a person and become more tolerant.

I also have fond memories of many teachers, especially those who knew how to infuse law studies with critical thinking, which is the most important thing for me. Those teachers made me reflect on law as such and on law in society. I think that is one of the most important lessons I took away.

I remember in 2013 there was a very strong wave of persecution in Russia against the LGBTI community. That affected me deeply. I was not aware of the extent to which the LGBTI community was persecuted in other parts of the world. I knew that where I lived there was still homophobia, and that affected my daily life. But I think that was when I started to realize there was homophobia and discrimination and that, as a young homosexual, things would not be as easy for me as for heterosexual young people. And also that, in other parts of the world, the situation is even worse. I think that was when I realized that not only did I want to make myself visible as a gay person, but I also wanted to do something to help make a change. 

They fit together pretty well because, for me, my work as a lawyer is the most powerful tool I have as an activist. I believe very important social changes can be achieved through law and the justice system.

I don’t think it is necessary to draw such a stark dividing line. Obviously, part of my job will have a more activist dimension and another part simply will not, because, as a lawyer, I can also take on all sorts of cases. But I don’t think it entails any sort of incompatibility. On the contrary, the two things go well together.

I got a lot out of it professionally, but also, especially, personally. At that point, I had been working for a while with refugees and asylum seekers. Many were fleeing from their countries because they faced persecution there as LGBTI people, so I already knew some stories. But it is always different to see things in another context.

In Costa Rica, the situation of LGBTI people is fairly good, so a lot of Central American and Latin American immigrants seek asylum there. That allowed me to meet a lot of people from the region, who had even fewer means. The profile I saw was very different from Spain, where it was the most fortunate people who managed to reach Europe. There, the people were from neighbouring countries – Nicaragua, Honduras or Ecuador – and had a hard enough time making it to Costa Rica. They had just got there and I was able to hear many of their stories. It was a very gratifying experience, and I took a lot away from it.

The profile I saw was very different from Spain, where it was the most fortunate people who managed to reach Europe.

I work as a lawyer in the legal service of Accem, an NGO that provides assistance to asylum seekers and refugees, as well as immigrants in general. My main job is to give legal assistance to people in the process of seeking asylum: prepping them for the interview they have to do with the immigration authorities to explain why they are seeking international protection; preparing the evidence they need to support their account; assisting them during the interview, etc. I also help throughout the administrative process, from providing more evidence to defending their case until they receive the administrative decision. And if they are denied asylum, I help them file an appeal.

I also collaborate with the Observatori contra l’Homofobia, in the complaints office. There we keep a record of the incidents of aggressions and discrimination due to LGBTI-phobia that we learn of. We also advise victims of these acts. We help them file reports if they have not already done so, explain how the court proceedings can be, and, sometimes, file a complaint as a private prosecutor.

As a lawyer at Accem, I would say the main challenge facing NGOs that deal with asylum issues is the changes currently taking place in the asylum system. There is a global trend towards making things increasingly harder for people who arrive and want to apply for asylum. NGOs have to counterbalance that. We have to denounce human rights violations and continue trying to ensure that the people who come to seek asylum can do so with the utmost guarantees, and that their rights are respected.

The main challenge facing NGOs that deal with asylum issues is the changes currently taking place in the asylum system. There is a global trend towards making things increasingly harder for people who arrive and want to apply for asylum.

As for the challenges facing LGBTI people, we are at a moment in which the consciousness of the community is expanding. We are increasingly aware of the need to report aggressions or discrimination. It is also time to defend the trans community, which suffers a lot of discrimination and which is now more visible than before. We have to support and stand with trans people to help them claim their rights. 

We don’t have a specific profile. Accem is part of the state asylum-seeker programme, so we help anyone seeking to apply. We do not distinguish or discriminate based on the grounds. We help people being persecuted for being LGBTI, for political reasons, for religious reasons, people who are fleeing from wars, from armed groups such as gangs in Central America, etc. There are many profiles.

The asylum process begins as an administrative procedure. In other words, it is an application submitted to the immigration office. All applications received in Spain are then examined by the Office of Asylum and Refuge (OAR) in Madrid. A person can apply for asylum when they are already in Spanish territory or at the border, meaning at airports, seaports or land borders. The vast majority of asylum seekers apply once they are already in the territory, but many applications are also made at the border, especially, these days, the maritime border, on the Canary Island or mainland Spanish coasts, or overland in Ceuta and Melilla.

Once a person has applied for asylum, they have an interview with an official – usually with the police or an immigration officer – and they are asked why they are applying for asylum and whether they have any evidence to support their case, which they usually do not. (Although it is not required, it is recommended.) After that, their file is created and sent to Madrid, to the OAR, where the case is studied and an administrative decision is issued, which can be appealed in court.

The definition of refugee in Spain is the same as in other Western countries, because it is based on the 1951 Geneva Convention and European directives. Lately, though, it may be a bit outdated with regard to the issue of climate refugees, which no one previously could have imagined but is beginning to happen now. From a human rights perspective, people who cannot return to their country because, due to climate conditions, they can no longer survive there should also be able to apply for asylum.

The definition of refugee should also be revised with regard to situations of extreme poverty. Economic grounds are not currently included under the Geneva convention, European directives, or Spanish law. Obviously, opening up asylum for any type of economic grounds would be complicated, but I think that situations of extreme poverty should be taken into account to broaden the definition of refugee a bit more.

It may be a bit outdated with regard to the issue of climate refugees (...) The definition of refugee should also be revised with regard to situations of extreme poverty

Globally, I think there is a trend towards polarization. One group of countries is increasingly advancing on matters of LGBTI rights, whilst another bloc of countries is increasingly backsliding or remains in a state of homophobia or of persecution of the community by other non-state actors. There is also a sociocultural factor in some countries that want to separate themselves from the Western bloc and consider guaranteeing LGBTI rights a Western imposition. Many of these countries may have suffered colonization, so it is also understandable that they would want to disassociate themselves from anything Western. But this is being done at the expense of the LGBTI community in those countries. I think this is a very important issue that needs to be addressed and that it is a global challenge. LGBTI people are still persecuted in many countries, and the first global challenge would be to give asylum to people who leave those countries because their lives are in danger and they cannot live there.

LGBTI people are still persecuted in many countries, and the first global challenge would be to give asylum to people who leave those countries because their lives are in danger and they cannot live there.

Catalonia has achieved many milestones in recent years. We managed to get our own LGBTI law; recently, the Equal Treatment and Non-discrimination Act was passed, which is also partially applicable to situations of LGBTI-phobia. It is very important to make progress on the rights of trans people, too; many Spanish regions have their own laws on that, but Catalonia does not yet. Additionally, the 2014 LGBTI Act, which was a very important step, is now a bit outdated for various reasons. It needs to be updated. Organizations have also long been calling for the drafting of the implementing rules for this act, which has been in force since 2014, but that has yet to be done. The implementing rules are the document explaining how the law works in practice, for example, the sanctioning rules. We have been calling for this since 2014, but these remain pending tasks.

At the Observatori, we have always expressed our full support for the trans law, which is essential to putting an end to historical discrimination. We supported the trans platform nationally with regard to the hunger strike it began a month ago, which has already ended, because the parliamentary proceedings have begun. So we fully support the law being processed in Congress and believe it is necessary to defend this group.

Increasingly less, but yes. The rights of sexual and gender minorities were neglected at the start of the human rights movement, after World War II. No one thought about it because these minorities were directly invisible or discriminated against. Little by little, the language of human rights legal platforms has started to be used to talk about the human rights of sexual and gender minorities.

We have made more and more progress. At the international level, there are already some documents, such as the Yogyakarta Principles, which are not an international treaty but a document explaining how existing treaties should be applied to these minorities. At the European level, there is more and more case law. For instance, the European Court of Human Rights has more judgments developing the rights of these minorities. It is a very long road, and we are just beginning, but I think the trend is quite positive.

At the collective level, social media, are a positive tool; they democratize, giving everyone a voice and making it possible to draw attention to many situations that the traditional media ignore. For example, many of the situations we deal with at the Observatori come to us via social media. Someone will be discriminated against, they post about it on Twitter or Instagram, it goes viral, and the situation has an impact. It is also a good recourse for advocacy, to conduct campaigns… Individually, as an activist, I use social media to shine a spotlight on things that I think are important. I have a blog about LGBTI rights, Triángulo rosa, and I use Twitter to try to publicize what I write.  

Obviously, it’s a double-edge sword, because many hate crimes are committed on social media, too. We can’t prevent anyone from using social media to broadcast such discourses, which is the downside.

I’ve always wanted to write, because it is something I like doing and enjoy a lot, and I also wanted to write fiction. It was hard for me, though; I didn’t really know what to write. I took a course, did some training… That coincided with another issue that, as an activist, I had been following with a lot of concern: what was happening in Chechnya in 2017. It began as a very serious persecution against the gay community, with talk of concentration camps. A lot of people were arrested; there were murders and torture. I remember that, as an activist, it was really upsetting for me that so little was being said about this. No one knew what was going on. So, first, I wrote about what was happening to the LGBTI community in Chechnya on my blog and in other places where I wrote. The two things came together, and I thought it was a good opportunity to act on my desire to write fiction whilst also shining a light on something that had happened.

The result is the book Eternos. Although it’s a novel, it tells a story set in the context of the persecution of the LGBTI community in Chechnya. The story doesn’t specify where it takes place, so it could be happening anywhere, but it is inspired a bit by what the story of two people who fall in love in a context like that, where this kind of love is persecuted, would be like.