Transgender Australian musician Stephanie McCarthy, who was assaulted at a Sydney pub in 2015, is reportedly seeking “humanitarian asylum” in Iceland in order to escape homophobia in Australia.
News Corp Australia reports that McCarthy and her partner Ashley Ihász have joined a queue for asylum in Iceland, alongside a number of refugees from Syria and Iraq. The couple are reportedly living in the town of Keflavík while they wait for the Icelandic Directorate of Immigration to make a decision on their asylum application.
McCarthy and Ihász are believed to have raised almost $2,000 through a Go Fund Me account in order to make the move to Iceland. On the page, Ihász reportedly wrote, “Stephanie has been continually harassed and threatened by the NSW police.
“Escalation of threats towards her and myself as her partner have forced us to flee from Australia in fear of our lives. We have now formally applied for asylum in Iceland and, with it, the chance to live free of violence, intimidation, the threat of death and various other forms of abuse.
“To get here we have sacrificed our families, our friends, our cat and my life savings.”
NSW Police has rejected the allegations and said the claims of threats are false.
Iceland has granted humanitarian asylum to gay couples in the past, and if McCarthy and Ihász’s application is successful they could be entitled to a monthly income and accommodation in the country.
The 2015 assault of McCarthy at Newtown’s Town Hall Hotel led to protests from the local community. McCarthy later confronted her alleged attackers outside court, before a man who plead guilty to assaulting her escaped jail time and was handed community service and a good behaviour bond.
McCarthy declined to comment for this story.
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