Homonationalism and sexual orientation-based asylum cases in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID19005740
AuthorsCheryl Llewellyn (0000-0001-6788-4478, University of Massachusetts Lowell, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume20
Issue5-6
Pages682-698
Publication date2016-07-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSexualities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1363-4607 • E-ISSN: 1461-7382
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1363460716645803
OpenAlexW2479609934
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited13

In this paper, I demonstrate that the adjudication of sexual orientation asylum is one of the processes made possible under what Jasbir Puar calls homonationalism. I make an analytical distinction between cases that employ a narrative of ‘the homosexual’ versus other less (homo)normative sexual identities. In the asylum system ‘the homosexual’ is a unitary and fixed identity characterized by visibility, coherence and linearity. These features, notably, are consistent with a homonormative identity construction, which privileges white, Western, gay male sexual politics. My analysis indicates that applicants that can adopt the narrative of ‘the homosexual’ have greater success than applicants’ identities that are not easily encapsulated by this single narrative. Moreover, applicants must also show an infliction of bodily harm to signify a need for asylum; the treatment of their bodies in their country of origin must vary significantly from the protection that the United States purports to offer

Adjudication · Aesthetics · Criminology · Harm · Human sexuality · Narrative · Normative · Political science · Sexual identity · Sexual orientation · Sociology · Unitary state · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub