International News by Rex Wockner

Italy lets Senegalese gay man stay

Italy's top court for civil and criminal cases, the Supreme Court of Cassation, has ruled that a gay illegal immigrant from Senegal can remain in Italy for now, and ordered a judge to examine the man's claim that he faces persecution in Senegal based on his sexual orientation.

The court denied a request to overrule a Turin judge who had annulled the man's deportation order, local media reported July 29.

The new ruling said "homosexuality is a condition of the human being deserving legal protection" and "sexual freedom must be construed as freedom to live without interference and restrictions with reference to sexual preferences."