Canada Denies Gay Man Asylum

TORONTO, CANADA -- A gay Nicaraguan man faces deportation after immigration authorities ruled that he will not face persecution in his homeland because of his sexual orientation. The decision came even though the government stepped in last February to stop the deportation.

Alvaro Orozco, 21, says he fled Nicaragua, where a 1992 law recommends four years in prison for sodomy, at the age of 12 because his father beat him for being gay. He hitchhiked to the U.S. where he lived for five years before he made it to Canada two years ago.

Upon arrival, Orozco applied for asylum but the Immigration and Refugee Board member who heard his case didn't believe he was gay because he wasn't sexually active during his teen years.

Mr. Orozco's lawyer says he will continue to fight the decision.