Opinion ID: 789444
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Karouni's Attendance at Dinner Parties with Other Homosexuals

Text: 46 The IJ found that Karouni's attendance at dinner parties with other homosexuals in Lebanon in 1992 was inconsistent with the actions of an individual who feared being outed. Like so many of the IJ's other findings in this case, we believe that this finding also represents the IJ's personal conjecture as to what someone in Karouni's situation would do. Id. 47 Karouni's credible testimony establishes that, during his 1992 visit to Lebanon, he limited his contacts and remained at his parents' home most of the time. He interacted with only family and close friends for fear that his would-be persecutors would learn of his presence and persecute him. The evidence in the record strongly suggests that Karouni attended dinner parties with other homosexuals only because he believed them to be safe. In particular, Karouni testified that his friend and Mahmoud's cousin, Toufic, arranged the dinner parties, that all of the attendees of the dinner parties were very close friends of Toufic's, and that [t]hey've known each other for years. Accordingly, we find no support for the IJ's conclusion that Karouni, at the time that he attended the dinner parties in 1992, had any reason to fear that his attendance would place him at a greater risk of persecution or that his attendance somehow evidences an objectively unreasonable fear of future persecution. 48 Moreover, Karouni attended dinner parties with other homosexuals during his 1992 visit to see his dying father but not during his 1996 visit to attend his recently deceased mother's funeral. Karouni testified that, after his 1992 visit to Lebanon, he started hearing [that] the people I associated with ... [in 1992 ha]ve been arrested and beaten. Toufic told Karouni that, following the arrests of the other dinner party attendees, Karouni's name ha[d also] been submitted to the Lebanese authorities identifying him as a homosexual. For that reason, during Karouni's 1996 visit to Lebanon, he did not attend any dinner parties with other homosexuals, remained at home as much as possible, and didn't want to get in contact with anybody. Thus, to the extent that the IJ was correct in speculating that a gay man in fear of being outed and persecuted would not have attended dinner parties with other homosexuals, Karouni's actions during his 1996 visit were entirely consistent with the IJ's supposition. 49