A lesbian from Zimbabwe has spoken out about how it took five gruelling years to convince the Home Office that she’s gay and should be granted asylum. Angel fled to the UK five years ago, after police found her naked in bed with another woman and beat the pair of them up. While sex between two men is a criminal offence in Zimbabwe, technically being a lesbian is not something you can be arrested for. Instead, police will give out their own “instant justice”, Angel said. In 2015, she found herself in an interview room with a Home Office official whose job was to work out whether Angel was lying, or whether she really was a lesbian. She’s one of more than 1,500 people who seek asylum in the UK on sexuality grounds every year.