Kerry makes plea for gay couple in asylum case

At his Haverhill office, Tim Coco spoke via video conference call yesterday with husband Genesio Oliveira, who is in Brazil. (Elise Amendola/Associated Press)

Senator John F. Kerry is urging the US attorney general to reunite a gay married couple in Massachusetts who were separated in 2007 when a federal judge ordered one of the men to return to Brazil.

Genesio "Junior" Oliveira, who is married to Haverhill advertising agency owner Tim Coco, returned home in August 2007 after he lost his asylum case and appeal, which was based on his story that he had suffered a brutal rape and discrimination in Brazil.

In a letter this week, Kerry asked Attorney General Eric Holder to overrule the lower court and grant Oliveira asylum. In the letter, Kerry criticized Immigration Judge Francis Cramer for rejecting the asylum plea even though Cramer had found the testimony credible. Kerry said it was "outrageous" that Cramer noted that Oliveira was not physically harmed by the rape.

"The injustice of the initial denial of Junior's asylum claim continues to this day," Kerry wrote in the letter. "I hope that you will review this case and determine that the denial of Junior's asylum claim was in error and let him return to this country."

As head of the Department of Justice, Holder oversees the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Holder will review the letter and respond to Kerry, spokesman Charles Miller said yesterday.

Cramer could not be reached for comment because immigration judges do not comment on court decisions or asylum cases, said spokeswoman Elaine Komis.

However, according to court papers provided by Coco, the judge had also noted in his decision that Brazil has antidiscrimination laws and that Oliveira went to Brazil at least twice without incident, including for his father's funeral.

Coco, 47, praised Kerry for championing Oliveira's cause. Coco is also pushing to change the federal law to allow spouses to sponsor each other for immigration purposes. Only heterosexual spouses can sponsor foreigners to immigrate to the United States.

"The judge was at best insensitive and uninformed," Coco said. "Senator Kerry understands the importance and the righteousness of our relationship. He understands what it is to be married, and how important that marriage is, and he does not put an asterisk on it because it's a gay marriage."

Oliveira, 29, who is in hiding in Brazil, first applied for asylum in 2002, saying he had been raped by a doctor, according to an account of the story he told for the first time to the Globe in October.

Although Brazil bans discrimination against gays and lesbians, attacks against them persist, according to the US Department of State. In a report issued last month, the department said at least 186 people, mostly gay men, were killed last year in Brazil because of their sexual orientation, an increase from 116 in 2007.