Pfitzner, ‘Not Gay enough’, 2023

Linn Pfitzner, ‘”Not Gay enough”: Credibility Assessment of Queer Muslims in the Dutch Asylum Procedure’, McGill Journal of Refugee and Migration Studies, vol. 3 (2022-2023)

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of queer applicants from Muslim-majority countries in the Dutch asylum procedure. Building upon previous research about homonationalism and the cultural contingencies of queer identities, it posits that Dutch asylum authorities draw on Western ideas of queerness which do not reflect the lived experiences of Muslim queer applicants. The presence of homonationalist argumentations in Dutch legal discourse, whereby acceptance of the Western queer community is mobilised to justify the exclusion of migratory identities, is examined through reference to dominant discourses of “coming out,” becoming aware of one’s sexuality, and speaking about it. These homonationalist ideas represent an insensitivity towards non-Western queer identities that may create lacunae in the protection for gender and / or sexuality non-conforming applicants who, contrary to European and international law, are denied protection.