Nnaji, Green and Weeks, ‘How US Grassroots Organizations Confront the Global Anti-LGBTQ+ Crisis and Support LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers’, 2025
- Category: Literature
- Source: Academic
- Subject: Sexual Orientation/Sexuality, Gender Identity, Refugee/Asylum
- Place: Americas
- Year: 2025
- File: nnaji-et-al-2025-how-us-grassroots-organizations-confront-the-global-anti-lgbtq-crisis-and-support-lgbtq-asylum-seekers
- URL: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307949
Chioma Nnaji, Al Green and Nathalie J. Weeks, ‘How US Grassroots Organizations Confront the Global Anti-LGBTQ+ Crisis and Support LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers’, American Journal of Public Health 115, no. 4 (April 1, 2025): pp. 466-46
Excerpt
A rise in anti-LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and additional sexual and gender expansive individuals) legislation in African and Caribbean countries has compelled many LGBTQ+ individuals to seek refuge in the United States. There is limited data on the exact number. However, from 2012 to 2017, an estimated 4000 out of 30 900 LGBTQ+ asylum applicants cited persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.1 For Black LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, the journey is particularly challenging. They must navigate a complex US immigration system while dealing with dual layers of discrimination—racial inequities and anti-LGBTQ+ stigma.2,3 This compounded marginalization not only heightens the trauma of their migration but also creates significant barriers to resettlement, restricting access to employment, housing, and social support within both broader society and their own ethnic communities.4,5