Peumans, ‘Seks en stigma over grenzen heen’, 2011

Wim Peumans, ‘Seks en stigma over grenzen heen – Homoseksuele en Lesbische Migranten in Vlaanderen en Brussel’, ACCO, 2011

Abstract

Homosexuality and migration. The combination of these themes arouses a lot of interest and is a hot topic in politics, society and science. Yet there is little research on this in Europe.

This book wishes to contribute to a growing interest in the perception of homosexuality among ethnic minorities with an emphasis on sexual migration. In the first part of the book Wim Peumans examines in an ethnographic study why the gay and lesbian migrants interviewed came to Belgium from their country of origin and what role their sexuality played in the migration decision. He also looks at the influence of migration on their sexuality experience and the ways in which they dealt with their stigmatized identity in the country of arrival. On the basis of all stories, the reader thus gains a better insight into the lives of homosexual and lesbian migrants.

In the second part of the book, domestic and foreign academics and LGB activists respond to the research. Topics include a critical overview of the study of Islam and homosexuality, the situation of second generation gays and lesbians in the Netherlands, and the treatment of homosexuality in Belgian and European immigration law and in the asylum procedure.