Czechs defend gay arousal testing

THE Czech government has rejected EU criticism of its use of a test of the credibility of gay asylum seekers.

The Vienna-based European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said the Czech Republic is the only known EU country to use so-called “phallometric testing”. The method tests whether men seeking asylum on the grounds of homosexuality are sexually aroused by heterosexual pornographic material.

The Czech Interior Ministry said that the testing is conducted only after written consent had been obtained, and when it was not possible to use a different method of verification.

Ministry spokesman Pavel Novak said the testing has been carried out in fewer than 10 cases, always by a medical specialist, and was used on unreliable applicants from countries such as Iran, where homosexuality is grounds for harsh punishment.

Gay asylum seekers are hooked up to a machine that monitors blood-flow to the penis and are then shown straight porn. Those applicants who become aroused are denied asylum.

Novak said all those who have passed the test have been granted asylum.

The EU agency said in a report last month that the reliability of such tests is questionable because “it is dubious whether it reaches sufficiently clear conclusions”.