Michelis, ‘Later Is a Cis-Hetero Patriarchal Time Zone’, 2023

Ilaria Michelis, ‘Later Is a Cis-Hetero Patriarchal Time Zone: Narratives of Resistance to LGBTQI+ Inclusion amongst Humanitarian Practitioners’, Journal of Refugee Studies, 2023

Abstract

The plight of forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ people has become increasingly visible in Western media and scholarship within the past 10 years. Yet, despite increasing commitments and an expanding number of dedicated reports and initiatives, LGBTQI+ individuals remain discriminated against, exposed to violence, and excluded from humanitarian assistance. This article investigates the disconnect between global rhetoric and the persistent exclusion of LGBTQI+ people from most humanitarian relief programmes by conducting a critical discourse analysis of narratives deployed by humanitarian protection actors regarding LGBTQI+ inclusion. Drawing from interviews with humanitarian workers and humanitarian guidance documents, it argues that several mutually reinforcing discourses are currently at play within the humanitarian system to endlessly delay the meaningful inclusion of forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ people. These narratives not only uphold the cis-heteronormative and racist structures upon which the humanitarian system is constructed but also contribute to further stigmatization and anti-LGBTQI+ violence in an increasingly polarized world.