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Outlook: Fighting for Gay Asylum Seekers

S Chelvan

23/07/2014

Fighting for Gay Asylum Seekers

BBC World Service - Outlook, Fighting for Gay Asylum Seekers

S Chelvan - 'a mouthpiece for those who have no voice'

S Chelvan, an award-winning barrister who fights for equal rights for gay asylum seekers explains how his experiences as a gay man has driven his work.

Thirtynine-year-old S Chelvan has just won Legal Aid lawyer of the year in the UK for his work on immigration and asylum. He represents lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people fleeing persecution around the world. He's been involved in some of the most important asylum cases in the UK and his personal experiences as a gay man have driven him from the start. 

Wendy Whelan has been called one of America's greatest classical dancers. She has been with the New York City Ballet since she was 17. But recently she has taken the difficult decision to retire from ballet. Now she has commissioned four young choreographers to create a new piece called Restless Creature  - which is being performed at London's Royal Opera House. Wendy speaks to Nicola Barranger.

Charlie Phillips is a Jamaican-born Londoner. He moved to London in 1956 and witnessed the Notting Hill riots a few years later. He spent his career documenting the black community in north London and the turbulent 60s in Paris and Rome. He photographed many famous faces of that era - and he also took a photo that later became an iconic image of its time - a multiracial couple in Notting Hill, London.

Last year, Italian nurse and amateur cyclist Luisa Pasini had a car accident that left her paralysed from the chest down and she now uses a wheelchair.The accident opened doors into a world that Luisa never knew existed - the world of hand-cycling. The sport has become her life - and she recently won the fifth stage of the Giro D'Italia in handbike. But the bikes costs tens of thousands of Euros and during Luisa's fundraising campaign to buy one, she met Luciano Bernini who decided to raise funds for her. Alice Gioia met up with both of them.

(Photo: Lawyer S Chevlan)

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