Oren and Gorshkov, ‘Lived Experiences of Recent Russian-Speaking LGBT+ Immigrants in the United States’, 2021

Tanzilya Oren and Aleksei Gorshkov, ‘Lived Experiences of Recent Russian-Speaking LGBT+ Immigrants in the United States: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis’, 2021 Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 15:3, 290-309

Abstract

The Russian government adopted “anti-gay propaganda” laws in 2013, prompting an exodus of LGBT+ individuals who sought asylum in Western countries. Little is known about this new and diverse group of immigrants and their post-migration experiences in the U.S. An interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyze nine semi-structured interviews. Four major themes emerged: “being a new asylum seeker: challenges ranked,” “reconciling multipolar identities,” “a sense of safety and freedom vs. a shock of nonsupport and discrimination,” and “belonging: new communities and their challenges.” The study calls for counselors to gain knowledge of immigration policies and new immigrant LGBT+ communities to address the within-group diversity, immigration and asylum challenges, language barriers, and general institutional barriers to services faced by these populations.

Keywords: LGBT asylum seekerslived experiencenew immigrantsRussian-speaking LGBT+ immigrants

Also available here: https://www.academia.edu/71518300/Lived_Experiences_of_Recent_Russian_Speaking_LGBT%FE_Immigrants_in_the_United_States_An_Interpretive_Phenomenological_Analysis?lctg=140673169