Testimonies of LGBTIQ refugees as cartographies of political, sexual and emotional borders

Bibliographic Data

ID2137333
AuthorsNathalie Ricard (Université Laval, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume3
Issue1
Pages28-59
Publication date2014-03-21
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Language and Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2211-3770 • E-ISSN: 2211-3789
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/jls.3.1.03ric
OpenAlexW2044298617
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited37

To be granted status, refugee claimants have to testify at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). This liminal space is charged with both the promise of liberation and the threat of deportation. Adding to the challenge are the governmental measures that constrain the right to asylum. This paper suggests answers to the question: What language and other discursive features do LGBTIQ claimants have to use to be recognized as refugees? This ethnography is based on fieldwork conducted in Toronto and Vancouver. I will present two vignettes of claimants I accompanied to their hearings. Contrary to heterosexuals, queer asylum seekers have to prove their sexual orientation and/or their gender identity. Truth about their sexuality and persecution is evaluated through the lens of legal technologies, and stereotypes are still common. However, extralegal forms of communication also come into play. New avenues for justice are being fostered by grassroots organizations

Criminology · Deportation · Economic Justice · Ethnography · Grassroots · Human sexuality · Identity (music · Immigration · Liminality · Persecution · Political science · Politics · Queer · Refugee · Sexual orientation · Sociology · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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