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Gay Man Deported From Australia After PrEP Found In His Luggage

Border agents "are incredibly racist and incredibly homophobic," says human rights lawyer Sarah Smith. "There's a real culture of thuggery."

A gay man has reportedly been deported from Australia after a customs agent found PrEP and several sex toys in his luggage.

The unnamed traveler, a German man who lives in Sydney with his parter, was returning from a vacation in Japan when he was stopped by Australian Border Forces (ABF) in Cairns. He had been required to leave and re-enter the country to extend his tourist visa, which he had done earlier in the year with no incident. This time, though, he was detained for 24 hours and ultimately put on a plane back to Japan.

His partner says ABF agents confiscated his phone and blocked his access to legal counsel. He believes his boyfriend was profiled because he appeared "visibly gay."

“We believe they discovered his PrEP and sex toys in his luggage, and that exacerbated the profile they’d formed... that he was entering to do sex work.”

There is also concern the man was intimidated during detention.

“The few times I spoke to him he sounded scared, he sounded very isolated," his partner said. "He was very worried about being subject to further punitive legal actions... he was afraid he would never be able to re-enter the country if he didn’t comply and do things like hand over his phone. At no point was he advised he was entitled to legal representation.”

He was sent back to Japan on Monday morning, with arrangements for him to continue on to Munich.

“He’s not going to be in a good financial position, or emotional position, to contest any of this from Japan,” said his partner.

Human rights advocate Sarah Smith says after she filed paperwork to represent the man, "all of my contact with him was just rejected. I could not get through to him on the phone. The officers guarding him refused to give me any answers as to his whereabouts." The next she heard, he was being put on a airplane.

“ABF officers are incredibly racist and incredibly homophobic," offered Smith. "They routinely make homophobic remarks to their charges. There’s a real culture of thuggery."

The man has reportedly lives in Australia for more than two years, and with his partner for nearly a year. They were exploring options for him to stay permanently, including a partner visa. (The Australian Parliament passed marriage equality legislation last year.) His boyfriend added, “Part of me thinks if [marriage equality had passed earlier] we may have been on some kind of partner visa now.”

A rep for ABF denies any discrimination, telling Gay Star News “People who have previously breached their visa conditions, especially the ‘no work’ right condition, may have their visas cancelled upon arrival in Australia and may face removal."

Unlike the UK and the United States, Australia also bans HIV-positive travelers who plan on staying in the country for more than 90 days.

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