Nisco, ‘”You Cry Gay, You’re In”‘, 2018

Maria Cristina Nisco, ‘”You Cry Gay, You’re In”: The Case of Asylum Seekers in the UK’,  in Baker P., Balirano G. (eds), Queering Masculinities in Language and Culture, Palgrave Studies in Language, Gender and Sexuality. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018

Abstract

The case of homosexual people claiming asylum from persecution poses a difficult question for governments since sexual orientation and gender identity are not explicitly mentioned as some of the grounds upon which an applicant can claim asylum.

Taking the cue from the extensive media coverage that a groundbreaking UK Supreme Court judgment (July 2010) attracted when a decision to deny two gay men asylum was overturned, this chapter investigates how issues relating to homosexual asylum seekers are mediated by the British press. While complaining about the sentence and criticising the judge’s stereotyping comments, the newspapers ended up reinforcing homophobic discourses which link homosexuality to parochial cultural tropes having gay men consistently drinking multi-coloured cocktails and going to Kylie Minogue’s concerts.