You raise a very important point. The quality of information available around homophobic and transphobic persecution is extremely sparse. It's limited. So people are making life and death decisions based on highly questionable, sometimes contradictory, information. This is particularly true in situations where countries are in flux.
The example of Turkey was brought up. There will likely be a non-discrimination law passed in Turkey fairly soon. At the same time, men going into the military in Turkey are publicly humiliated if they are gay. Their photos are put in the paper. They have to make a public statement that they are gay and they are not allowed in the military. But the information we have on that is very limited.
Another good example would be a few hearings I've been in recently for two trans women and then a lesbian woman, all from Mexico. They're some of the very few, 8%, who are being accepted from Mexico. These hearings took eight hours, and then the board members spent another three or four weeks deliberating over the evidence because it was very challenging to make these decisions.
When these decisions are so complex and involve life and death decisions, it is really critical that we have an appeal. The designated country list is a cumbersome mechanism.