The weaponisation of queer rights: a migration perspective

Colonial context of homophobia

Before diving into the British Empire’s homophobic legacy, it is worth noting the experience of queer people has varied across time and space. Histories of tolerance and inclusion have given way to erasure and persecution as a result of colonial legacies and geopolitical power battles. 

Homophobia was one of Britain’s most successful exports. If we examine the present-day attitudes in the Commonwealth towards LGBTQ+ people, the shadow of British colonial-era legislation is evident. Out of the 69 countries where homosexuality is criminalised today, 36 of them are former British colonies. 

As a result of European colonialism, and the legislation it inflicted on its colonies to assert its power, the prevailing sense of gender and sexuality that was imposed in the Commonwealth was largely based on Western perceptions and ‘morals’.

Let’s take the Indian Penal Code and section 377. These laws, which were imposed on colonised territories in an attempt to set “standards of behaviour,” led to widespread discrimination and persecution, as well as marginalisation and stigmatisation. They not only undermined personal privacy and freedom but also created an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. 

Today in many Commonwealth countries, the societal pressure to conform to “traditional” gender roles and heteronormativity forces many LGBTQ+ individuals to hide their identities or face persecution and violence from their families and communities. We spoke to a member of our Network about their experience as a queer asylum seeker who is seeking sanctuary in the UK as they flee the colonial-era homophobic laws still in place in their country of origin. Not only are many denied basic human rights, such as access to employment, healthcare and education, there is little or no protection in the law from persecution and harassment.

Homonationalism

Homonationalism was a concept proposed by Jasbir Puar in 2007, which explains how Western LGBTQ+ movements are often bound up with upholding the racist ideology of the State. Specifically, homonationalism is a method by which the State uses sexuality to legitimise counterterrorism or exclusionary measures against Muslims or People of Colour. The West frames itself as an inherently progressive force, and frames Muslim and Global South communities as inherently ‘backwards’ and ‘homophobic’ groups that it must fight against. LGBTQ+ groups in the West are often complicit in the demonisation of Muslim, racialised and migratised groups. Britain is an expert in homonationalistic ideology. 

Let’s look at Qatar as an example. During the World Cup, there was a widespread condemnation of Qatar’s record and stance on LGBTQ+ rights by the West. As an organisation with both Muslim and queer staff, we were concerned by the homonationalist rhetoric and how LGBTQ+ rights were appropriated by state actors for geopolitical purposes, specifically towards majority Muslim countries. This has been particularly evident in the wake of 9/11. The United States and UK have attempted to construct themselves as “gay safe” in comparison to the Middle East, ultimately bringing homosexuality into the “us-versus-them” nationalist rhetoric. However, this narrative is problematic and harmful as it ultimately ignores the fact that queer Muslims and queer people of South West Asian and North African (SWANA) heritage exist, and have always existed. As with all religious texts, queer-affirmative interpretations of the Quran do exist, and allow for a beautiful reconciliation of queerness and Islam. 

This false idea that the West is a queer utopia in contrast with other parts of the world ignores the fact that there are still many issues facing LGBTQ+ communities. In the UK, the queer community, along with migrants, are one of the targets in the growing culture war. Hate crime and hostile rhetoric towards trans people is on the rise while far-right demonstrations are taking place outside drag queen story times. Throughout time, different groups have always been constructed as a threat in order to justify violence, and we must spot that this is a pattern intended to distract from Government failures. The Government has come for migrants, and has come for queer people, and there is nothing to stop them coming for anyone else who doesn’t conform in some way. 

Queer spaces in the West are also plagued by racism and whitewashing. Queer and queer POC communities are under attack from property developers, and Pride has become increasingly corporate and inaccessible to many in the community. 

Culture of disbelief

The facade of Britain as an LGBTQ+ safe haven is even more problematic when examining the treatment of queer refugees in the UK’s immigration system. Disbelief culture and homophobic stereotypes of sexuality are ingrained within its structure. 

Numerous accounts of traumatising treatment by Home Office officials have come to light. LGBTQ+ people are required to provide ‘evidence’ of their sexuality in order to be granted asylum. At the Migrants’ Rights Network, LGBTQ+ people have relayed stories of being denied sanctuary based on Home Office claims they are lying about their sexuality or identity. 

In August 2022, Home Office data showed out of 1,050 initial decisions only 677 people were granted asylum or other forms of leave based on sexual orientation claims in 2021. 

This is not only symptomatic of a wider systemic issue within the UK’s asylum system that is ultimately hostile, it exposes archaic, binary Western conceptions of sexuality and gender identity. 

We need to dismantle ideas that sexuality sits within strict and rigid definitions or criteria. Sexuality is unique to the individual which people experience based on a multitude of intersecting factors. 

For instance, orientations that are not legible within the framework of Western LGBTQ+ identities are automatically dismissed as inauthentic and invalid. The West uses ‘coming out’ as a stamp of legitimacy, however in many contexts it may not be desirable, or even possible, for a person to come out. This does not make an individual any less queer, or their sexual orientation or gender identity any less valid. Queer people don’t owe the world performance or proof. They are queer because they say they are.

Other sexualities that defy binaries, for instance bisexuality, pansexuality and other fluid or expansive sexualities, are often dismissed as invalid by the Home Office. And an asylum seeker shouldn’t have to present intimate details about their relationship histories or sexual lives in order for their sexuality to be believed. You can be queer without having been intimate or in a relationship with someone of a different gender. 

At a time where both queer people and migrant communities are being used as scapegoats in the culture war, there is strong resistance amongst grassroots groups and young people to archaic and damaging narratives on homophobia and homonationalism. Alongside MRN, groups like Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants and African Rainbow Family are two of many groups resisting these ideas while Queercircle or the LGBT Centre are creating much needed safe spaces. There’s a lot of work to be done, but it is clear solidarity and supporting lived experience-led groups can make a huge and long-lasting difference.