I think the delays are very difficult because, for the claimants, the degree of uncertainty coupled with their ever-growing realization of what's going to happen to them if they go back to their country of origin, having made a claim on the basis of sexual orientation, is progressively debilitating.
I also agree with Ms. Robinson that sometimes people who come here don't even have a self-concept as being queer—any flavour of queer—because there are no social mirrors reflecting that as an option in their countries of origin. They come to a sense of themselves as gay, lesbian, or transgender once they get here.