Sexual-Orientation Asylum Figure Dies

The first person granted asylum by a U.S. immigration officer because of sexual orientation, a Mexican who said police in his native land harassed and raped him, has died of AIDS-related complications, his lawyer said Monday.

Ariel Da Silva, 36, died last week in a Los Angeles hospital, five months after the ruling in his favor by an immigration hearing officer, said attorney Marc Van Der Hout.

The ruling prompted Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to declare that persecution based on sexual orientation is grounds for political asylum, a principle that is now binding in all immigration cases, Van Der Hout said.

Da Silva, who entered the United States more than a decade ago, was diagnosed as having the AIDS virus in November, 1991, Van Der Hout said.

In a news conference in San Francisco this March, Da Silva said police in his native Coahula, Mexico, arrested him for walking in certain neighborhoods, patronizing certain bars and attending certain parties as he was growing up.