Diab, ‘On Queering Movement amid Historical Invisibility’, 2021

Jasmin Lilian Diab, ‘On Queering Movement amid Historical Invisibility: Sexuality, Gender and Migration’, January 2021

Abstract

The experience of queer refugees has not received much scholarly or research-based attention in migration discourse. Attention has only recently shifted toward its inclusion in both the “migration” and “queer” narratives with the emergence of the field of ‘queer migrations’ approximately two decades ago. The simple fact of the matter is that, at a time when people and governments across the globe were preoccupied with asking ‘tough questions’ on migration, asylum, and borders, the field of queer migration was simply not an intersection which they were willing to address. Historically however, gender identity and sexuality have had an impact not only on people’s decisions to migrate from their countries of origin, but also on the manner through which destination countries have received them – and the sooner we realize this, the sooner we will be able to bridge gaps across migration policy, international migration and refugee law as well as border management and human rights.