Standing up for trans and queer refugees
LGBTQI+ refugees have been a focus of my work over the last couple of months, and with the upcoming elections in the UK, France, the US and beyond refugees are once again being framed as a scourge on the countries they enter. Queer asylum seekers especially get little to no voice in the media, and precious little coverage on social media even when asylum seekers and refugees are discussed, to the point that their voices are completely lacking from the conversation. As an academic it is deeply frustrating to see a marginalised group get exploited and silenced, especially as LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and refugees have already experienced significant trauma in their birth countries. It is up to us, the citizens of their sanctuary countries, to re-enfranchise them, given them voices to speak on their own terms, and push back against their dispossession enforced on them by systems of power.
This is the second queer refugee project I have worked on, and the more I engage with them the more I want to advocate on their behalf. Refugees and migrants are shamed and shunned by democratic systems as parasites and aliens in the home lands, yet in reality they are all fleeing oppression, brutality, and searching for better opportunities to thrive. Unlike the right wing portrayals of migrants the vast majority are hard-working, desiring a space to build their lives, families, and community…
