This category features academic sources on LGBTQ+ migration. The sources included here examine queer and transgender migration through performance, asylum, diaspora, border politics, identity documentation, language learning, healthcare access, and state regulation. They address how LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees negotiate visibility, legitimacy, belonging, safety, and self-presentation across legal, cultural, and performative contexts.
LGBTQ+ Migration (Performance)
Concerning the Queer Refugee: Staceyann Chin’s Transient Performance
Source: Metzger, Sean. “Concerning the Queer Refugee: Staceyann Chin’s Transient Performance.” Cultural Dynamics [London, England], vol. 33, nos. 1–2, February 2021, pp. 29–44.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0921374020934149
Summary: This article discusses Staceyann Chin and her young daughter Zuri’s online performance art series Living Room Protest and how it relates to Staceyann Chin’s status as a queer migrant. Chin left her home country, Jamaica, due to homophobia and moved to the United States. The transient nature of her work, both in subject matter and in the medium of online videos, speaks to her experience of forced migration and queer identity. Metzger discusses the Living Room Protest series in comparison to Chin’s other works to highlight the dual nature of living as an immigrant abroad, living as a queer woman in heterosexual society, and presenting her and her daughter’s everyday private discussions as public, political performance art.
Truths, Fakes and the Deserving Queer Migrant
Source: Abbey, Matthew. “Truths, Fakes and the Deserving Queer Migrant.” Sexualities [London, England], vol. 27, nos. 1–2, February 2024, pp. 171–187.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607221080509
Summary: This article discusses the contradictory nature of the search for truth that surrounds queer and transgender migrants’ claims for asylum or other appeals to immigration systems. Abbey looks at Claire Summerskill’s verbatim play Rights of Passage and the films Crypsis by Christopher McGill, Samira by Nicola Mai, and The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela by Olaf de Fleur Johannesson to explore the nature, necessity, and subjectivity of truth surrounding queer and transgender identity. The article argues that the use of LGBTQ+ stereotypes makes certain expected forms of queer and transgender identity seem more legitimate than others, forcing queer and transgender migrants who do not fit these stereotypes to adjust their presentation to conform to the expected image of the deserving queer migrant. This complicates the attempt to distinguish “true” from “fake” LGBTQ+ migrants, since people fleeing real persecution may feel compelled to modify their behavior or personal histories in order to appear more legitimate.
Trans-Lating Hijra Identity: Performance Culture as Politics
Source: Gupta, Ankush. “Trans-Lating Hijra Identity: Performance Culture as Politics.” Theatre Research International [Cambridge, UK], vol. 44, no. 1, March 2019, pp. 71–75.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0307883318000925
Summary: This article looks at Hijra communities in South Asia, the performance of gender and class, and perceptions of gender minorities in both Eastern and Western contexts. Gupta poses the question of whether there is a Hijra diaspora, since identities may shift during migration both in the context of a new culture and as a means of establishing legitimacy in an immigration system shaped by Western identity labels. Gupta compares Hijra identity in terms of its translation as “eunuch” or the outdated term “hermaphrodite,” and discusses its matriarchal structure and relationship to femininity as both neighbor and outsider. The article shows how Western classifications such as transgender woman or nonbinary may not fully capture the nuance of Hijra identity, performance, and ritual.
Spilling the Tea: Aunty Discipline and the Queer Diasporic Child in D’Lo’s To T, or Not To T?
Source: Tillakaratne, Mihiri. “Spilling the Tea: Aunty Discipline and the Queer Diasporic Child in D’Lo’s To T, or Not To T?” South Asia [Abingdon], vol. 46, no. 1, January 2023, pp. 152–169.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2023.2162238
Summary: This article presents D’Lo’s solo performance piece To T, or Not To T?, which is based on his life as a transgender Sri Lankan Tamil American and his relationship to the Sri Lankan and/or Tamil diaspora. D’Lo, a second-generation American, showcases the figure of the Super Aunty, who both cares for her community and strictly enforces social norms, and how this affected him as a transgender child who often broke those norms. Tillakaratne discusses diaspora as a community cut off from its physical origin, which must then decide what it means to be, for example, Sri Lankan in the United States. The article shows how diasporic communities often link identity to inherited ideals in a way that makes deviation feel like failure. Part of the aunty’s role as a member of the diasporic family is to protect the community, which may include enforcing traditional gender roles and punishing non-normative divergence.
LGBTQ+ Migration (General)
Non-Binary Gender Markers: Mobility, Migration, and Media Reception in Europe and Beyond
Source: Quinan, C. L., and Mina Hunt. “Non-Binary Gender Markers: Mobility, Migration, and Media Reception in Europe and Beyond.” The European Journal of Women’s Studies [London, England], vol. 30, no. 3, August 2023, pp. 380–390.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/13505068211024891
Summary: Quinan and Hunt discuss nonbinary gender markers, commonly “X,” on identity documents. They examine the status of “third gender” markers in various countries and show inconsistencies in implementation: some countries allow the marker for nonbinary people, some require all transgender people to use it, and some only allow intersex people to use it. The article also discusses the risks associated with using a nonbinary gender marker, including incompatibility with foreign administrative systems, possible detention during travel, and the possibility that identity documents may be treated as non-legitimate because of the relatively new gender category. Quinan and Hunt propose removing gender markers from identity documents as a way to make travel, immigration, and daily life safer for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people.
“Like a Bomb in the Gasoline Station”: East-West Migration and Transnational Activism around Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Politics in Poland
Source: Binnie, Jon, and Christian Klesse. “‘Like a Bomb in the Gasoline Station’: East-West Migration and Transnational Activism around Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Politics in Poland.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies [Abingdon], vol. 39, no. 7, August 2013, pp. 1107–1124.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2013.778030
Summary: This article looks at the migration of “sexual dissidents” from Poland, why they leave, and the relationship that they and other transnational activists may have toward LGBTQ issues in Poland. While the article cites homophobia as one reason queer and transgender migrants may leave Poland, Binnie and Klesse caution against a stark East/West mindset or the categorization of Poland’s national homophobia as exceptional or as a result of the supposed backwardness of Central or Eastern European countries. The article also discusses the effect of migration to and from Poland on the country’s LGBTQ communities and rights, and how the transfer of knowledge is bi-directional, both to and from Poland and the West. Finally, it looks at Polish migrants who return to Poland from the West and considers how cultural differences may or may not shift the culture at home.
Trans Migrations: Seeking Refuge in “Safe Haven” Toronto
Source: Jacob, Tai, and Natalie Oswin. “Trans Migrations: Seeking Refuge in ‘Safe Haven’ Toronto.” The Canadian Geographer [Toronto], vol. 67, no. 2, June 2023, pp. 202–216.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12811
Summary: This article discusses transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) refugees in Canada and how the Canadian self-perception of Canada as a welcoming country friendly toward LGBTQ people does not always match the reality of TGNC refugees. The article establishes the narrative of TGNC refugees fleeing homo-/transphobia in their home countries to move to the progressive West, in this case Canada. TGNC refugees must follow this narrative to have their asylum cases accepted and cannot stand up for themselves when facing transphobia in the asylum process without risking deportation. Jacob and Oswin point to the discrimination TGNC refugees face, including the fact that the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) does not cover many transgender healthcare services that the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) covers for the province’s permanent residents. In this way, TGNC refugees may be forced to delay their transition until they are able to become permanent residents.
The Substance of Borders: Transgender Politics, Mobility, and US State Regulation of Testosterone
Source: Beauchamp, Toby. “The Substance of Borders: Transgender Politics, Mobility, and US State Regulation of Testosterone.” GLQ [Durham], vol. 19, no. 1, 2013, pp. 57–78.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-1729545
Summary: This article outlines the history of synthetic testosterone regulation in the United States and how increasing restrictions on the hormone are tied to border enforcement. The article summarizes legislation and quotes from court proceedings during the crackdown on synthetic testosterone during the War on Drugs in the 1980s and 1990s, when the proliferation of the substance was portrayed as a foreign influence invading the United States from Mexico. The article also addresses the effects of classifying testosterone as a controlled substance in restricting its movement and, subsequently, restricting the movement of transgender people who use testosterone for gender-affirming healthcare.
The Production of Trans Illegality: Cisnormativity in the U.S. Immigration System
Source: Collier, Megan, and Meghan Daniel. “The Production of Trans Illegality: Cisnormativity in the U.S. Immigration System.” Sociology Compass [Hoboken], vol. 13, no. 4, April 2019.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12666
Summary: This article discusses how transgender identity and gender nonconformity affect migrants and how the criminalization of gender variance puts transgender immigrants at higher risk of deportation. Collier and Daniel note the stereotype of the “deceptive” transgender person and explain how it increases legal scrutiny of identity documents and creates more opportunities for negative interaction with law enforcement. For example, if someone calls security on a transgender person in a gendered restroom, the transgender person may be arrested. Criminalization of transgender people blends with criminalization of immigrants to create intersectional oppression of transgender migrants and renders them hypervisible to law and border enforcement agencies.
A Gay Immigrant Student’s Perspective: Unspeakable Acts in the Language Class
Source: Nelson, Cynthia D. “A Gay Immigrant Student’s Perspective: Unspeakable Acts in the Language Class.” TESOL Quarterly [Oxford, UK], vol. 44, no. 3, September 2010, pp. 441–464.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.2010.226853
Summary: In this article, Nelson discusses the challenges that LGBTQ migrant students face in the classroom while learning the language of their new country. Although many language students are encouraged to share autobiographical details of their lives as a way to relate to the language, LGBTQ students may not be able to participate if the teacher or fellow students have demonstrated unwillingness or hostility toward queer subject matter. This inability to participate in the same way as their heterosexual peers makes it harder for LGBTQ students to learn the new language and may affect their ability to integrate into a new culture. On the other hand, LGBTQ migrant students who have found queer communities are often more successful at learning their new language because they have more opportunities to practice without fearing discrimination.