Database

In dieser Arbeit wird „Heteronormativität“ als deskriptiver Begriff theoretisch fundiert und als jenes Dispositiv gefasst, welches queere Identitäten – äußerlich wie innerlich – verdrängt, und bis hin zur Depersonalisierung entstellt. Der Identitätsbegriff wird sowohl aus poststrukturalistischer als auch sozialkonstruktivistischer Perspektive kritisch hinterfragt und narrativ konzeptualisiert. Im Zentrum dieser qualitativen Studie stehen zehn queere, nach Österreich geflüchtete Personen aus Afrika, Asien und Osteuropa, deren wandlungsfähige, kreative Selbstentwürfe im Spannungsfeld zwischen ‚agency‘ und ‚structure‘ aus intersektionaler Perspektive herausgearbeitet und interpretiert werden.

Discourses relating to gender and sexualities have long been a tool for the perpetuation of racialized “othering”and have contributed to the strengthening of national identities and boundaries as they reproduce binary constructions of “us”and “them.”As the German nation-state reinvents itself as multicultural, tolerant,and sexually liberated, these discourses serve to mark the racialized body as a site of backwardness, sexism, and homophobia, and thus justify its segregation and exclusion exemplified in the restrictive practices of housing, mobility restrictions, and deportation of asylum seekers and migrants. This paper aims to trace the unfolding of discourses in and between some dominant organizational structures in Berlin that advocate for LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. It argues that the claim for citizenship of some formerly excluded sexual others is contingent on the promotion of a very specific notion of sexual identity and participation in the orientalisation/ethnicisation of homophobia.

Asylum seekers making claims relating to their sexual orientation and gender identity often face unfair refusal. New guidance from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada takes admirable steps towards improving claims assessment, and offers a model for practitioners elsewhere.

This chapter explores intersections of sexuality and ‘race’ by drawing on different projects: ethnographic research conducted in Manchester’s Gay Village and observations gathered through voluntary work with the grassroots organisation Lesbian Immigration Support Group (LISG) in Manchester. The chapter demonstrates that in both night-time lesbian leisure spaces and the asylum system in the UK, belonging to the group ‘lesbian’ is inherently racialised. In the Gay Village, some bodies are perceived and constructed as the ‘somatic norm’ while others are (made) ‘out of place’. The chapter argues that this norm is produced through representations, door policies, and other spatial practices. In the asylum system, for asylum claims based on sexuality to be successful the claimant must ‘prove’ their sexuality. The majority of sexuality cases are refused on grounds of credibility, where the claimant is not believed to be lesbian. The chapter demonstrates that these claims have a higher chance of success if the claimant conforms to homonormative notions that are racialised and constructed around a Western model of sexuality that is ‘out and proud’.

This working paper1 is based on a lecture given at the Summer School “Multiple Inequalities in the Age of Transnationalization”, June 23-27 2014 at Goethe University Frankfurt. In it, I explore the linkages between sexuality and migration and aim to show that instead of deeming them a narrow subfield of migration studies, thinking through these linkages has much wider implications for different fields, including post- and decolonial queer studies, the study of race and sexuality, the study of citizenship and state projects of inclusion/exclusion, and for work that attempts to ce-center the predominant knowledge production focused on the Global North.

Numerous studies demonstrate that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) children and youth are likely to experience abuse by peers, parents, and other adults and that these experiences correlate with a host of mental health problems. However, there is little understanding of the experiences of LGBT children and youth living in countries where social and legal protections for sexual and gender minorities are limited or nonexistent. This qualitative study used thematic analysis to explore the child and adolescent abuse experiences and their impact on the pre-migration mental health of LGBT forced migrants. We analyzed 26 interviews with individuals who obtained refugee or asylee status in the United States or Canada on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Participants originated from countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Analysis revealed the following themes: abuse by parents and caregivers, abuse by peers and school personnel, having nowhere to turn, and dealing with psychological distress. Findings indicate that participants experienced severe verbal, physical, and sexual abuse throughout childhood and adolescence and that this abuse occurred at home, in school, and in the community. Furthermore, there were no resources or sources of protection available to them. Participants linked their abuse to subjective experiences of depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress, as well as suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. We conclude with implications for refugee adjudication practices, mental health care, and international policy.

Asyl beziehungsweise Flüchtlingsschutz in Deutschland erhalten Menschen, die aufgrund ihrer politischen Überzeugung, Religion, Staatsangehörigkeit, aufgrund von Rassialisierungsprozessen oder der (vermeintlichen) Zugehörigkeit zu einer bestimmten sozialen Gruppe in ihrem Herkunftsland verfolgt werden oder eine begründete Furcht davor nachweisen können. Seit einem Grundsatzurteil des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts 1988 wird die Verfolgung infolge von Homosexualität als Asylgrund gewertet. Im Anschluss daran werden nun prinzipiell auch Transgeschlecht-lichkeit, Bi-, und Intersexualität flüchtlingsrechtlich anerkannt. In diesem Aufsatz beschäftigte ich mich mit der Praxis des Anhörens und der Entscheidungsfindung in Asylverfahren von LGBTI-Geflüchteten. In den meisten kenntlich gemachten Fällen handelt es sich um Verfolgung homosexueller Männer, weibliche Homosexualität und Bisexualität kommen in Asylverfahren seltener als Fluchtgrund zur Sprache. Ich will die Verhandlung von Transgeschlechtlichkeit und Intersexualität in den Anhörungs- und Entscheidungsituationen nicht ausblenden, deren Mechanismen sicher mindestens ähnlich sind, aus eigener Forschung kann ich dazu aber wenig beitragen. Soweit mir dazu Erkenntnisse vorlagen, habe ich sie im Text eingearbeitet.

Portugal’s migration history has been extensively explored in academic literature, including in legal scholarship. Yet, very little attention has so far been directed towards Portuguese refugee law. This may be due to the relatively low number of asylum seekers that Portugal receives, but that does not justify neglecting the study of the Portuguese socio-legal framework applicable to asylum seekers and refugees. This article addresses this gap by analyzing the framework in a European context, enhancing the analysis with a case study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers. The analysis explores the evolution of the current legal framework, the procedures and remedies available to asylum seekers, the substantive standards applied in decision making, and the broader socio-legal resources offered to asylum seekers. Several shortcomings and possible avenues of improvement are also identified.

Our article is about the new relevance of the category of “the homosexual” in immigration policies. This novelty is paradoxical: while homosexuality had previously been defined exclusively in negative terms, from the point of view of the State, it has now assumed a positive value in the West—since it can be invoked to justify asylum seeking. The argument has two prongs. On the one hand, taking homosexuality into account for immigration control implies a definition of gay identity. On the other, the objects of these policies are also subjects: their own identity is caught up in this transnational process of identification. Fieldwork for this article was conducted in France on bi-national same-sex couples. However, the new categorization of homosexuality extends far beyond—in Europe and throughout the world. We argue that the politics of identity are not just, and not primarily about identity politics; they have to do both with politics in general and policies in particular.