Refugees’ Transnational Practices: Gay Iranian Men Navigating Refugee Status and Cross-border Ties in Canada

Karimi, Ahmad

doi:10.1177/2329496519875484

Cited by 14 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Such workshops provided in the native language of LGBTQ+ refugees by facilitators who also have the knowledge and familiarity with their intersectional background can largely improve the integration of LGBTQ+ refugees. While Karimi's (2018Karimi's ( , 2019aKarimi's ( , 2019bKarimi's ( , 2020 work mainly focused on gay Iranian refugees, which does not constitute for the larger group of ME-LGBTQ+ refugees, his findings can largely apply in their context and reveal similar implications and impacts of their intersectional identities on their integration experiences.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…For example, the author found that participants continued to keep strong ties with their families and social networks at home by adapting to hiding their sexual identities and keep a distance between their ties to home and their lives in Canada. Karimi (2019bKarimi ( , 2020 argues against the assumed homogeneity of the group of ME-LGBTQ+ refugees and recommended, as a response to their intersectional experiences, "the immediate creation of safe spaces in refugee welcome centers. I also recommend developing pre-arrival workshops about life in Canada for racialized LGBT refugees" (Karimi, 2020, p146).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Intersectional Integration: Examining The Integration Experiences Of Middle Eastern LGBTQ+ Refugees In Canada and Service Providers Response

Alhajali¹

2022

Preprint

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The intersectional identities of Middle Eastern LGBTQ+ (ME-LGBTQ+) refugees expose them to different forms of discrimination and persecution throughout the asylum experience, whether in their home countries, proxy countries or even in Canada, which results in increased difficulties and challenges in integration. By interviewing six ME-LGBTQ+ refugees and conducting a content analysis on 27 websites of refugee-serving organizations, this study explores how the intersectional identities of ME-LGBTQ+ refugees have shaped their integration, and examines the role of the services providers in response to their intersectional integration. The findings revealed that ME-LGBTQ+ refugees suffered intersectional forms of discrimination at the intersection of nationality with gender and sexuality, which resulted on aggravated mental stresses, in addition to gaps in access to services which ME-LGBTQ+ refugees mitigated through their personal solidarity networks. The content analysis revealed gaps in mental health service provision and representation of LGBTQ+ refugees coupled with a complex and overlapping structure of services that hindered the ability of ME-LGBTQ+ refugees to leverage these services. Recommendations include allocating more efforts to understanding the intersectional backgrounds of ME-LGBTQ+ refugees, providing tailored orientation and guidance services in their native language and creating LGBTQ+ friendly housing communities and safe spaces that would allow ME-LGBTQ+ refugees to socialize, express their identities and feel safe, and, therefore, facilitating their successful integration in Canada. Keywords LGBTQ+, Refugees, Immigrants, Canada, Toronto, Middle Eastern, Service providers, Resettlement organizations, Refugee organizations, intersectionality.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Intersectional Integration: Examining The Integration Experiences Of Middle Eastern LGBTQ+ Refugees In Canada and Service Providers Response

Alhajali¹

2022

Preprint

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“…As globalization of LGBT rights increases, so too does the transnational flow of information, cultural content, and overall visibility (Ayoub, 2016;Ayoub & Garretson, 2017). For example, access to gay characters in film and gay content on the Internet contributed toward Iranian refugees to seek sexual freedom and affirming political environments in the West (Karimi, 2020). Altogether, these developments in the global environment help shift sexuality, which has always been in the background of migratory decisions, to the foreground.…”

Section: Our Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Migration Sexy: How LGB Policies Influence International Migration

Hoffmann¹,

Velasco²

2021

Preprint

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As same-sex couples gain greater social acceptance and new rights, their numbers in the United States are rapidly increasing. Yet few researchers have studied immigrants in same-sex couples on a large scale. Using the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2019, this study compares immigrants in same-sex couples to corresponding different-sex couples in order to characterize and assess the scale of “sexual migration” to the U.S. Moreover, we evaluate how the policy environment regarding same-sex couples shapes migratory patterns. We find that, compared to different-sex immigrant couples, immigrants in same-sex couples come from richer, more democratic countries that are less represented in immigrant networks. Fixed effects models show that as origin countries become more LGBT-friendly, we see more LGB immigrants from those countries in the U.S. On the individual level, immigrants in same-sex couples are more likely to live in progressive U.S. states, an effect that increases in strength as migrants come from for more LGBT-friendly countries of origin. Our findings put into question dominant models of migration that emphasize economic and network effects, suggesting the importance of considering sexuality as well as political and lifestyle motivations more broadly.

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“…Digital media technologies can assist during the move from one country to another, such as in the case of queer refugees temporarily living in Turkey while in transit from the Arab Middle East to the European Union (Bayramoğlu & Lünenborg, 2018) or while in transit from Iran to Canada (Karimi, 2020). The information gathered in transit might affect the final destination of the migrant (Lennes, 2020).…”

Section: During the Movementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The information gathered in transit might affect the final destination of the migrant (Lennes, 2020). Practical information can be sent back to queer contacts in one's country of origin, thus sparking new migrations along the same (or a different) trajectory (Karimi, 2020). In sum, digital media facilitate interpersonal networks that assist with information-gathering and other practical logistics of migration while simultaneously fostering a sense of belonging to a larger LGBTQ community.…”

Section: During the Movementioning

confidence: 99%

Queer Migration and Digital Media

Shield¹

2021

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication

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Migration—whether international or internal, forced or voluntary—intertwines with digital media, especially for sexual minorities and trans people who seek out platforms catering to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Online networks foster transnational flows of ideas and information, which can enable international travel. The ways that queer people interact on digital media in the 21st century have emerged not only from decades of online subcultures—such as 1990s chatrooms and profile sites—but also from predigital media cultures, such as printed personal ads in gay and lesbian journals. The internet accelerated the growth of media platforms and queer international networks, both of which continued to develop with the advent of mobile phone apps and the proliferation of social media. Online media—from blogs to hashtags to “hook-up” apps—can relate to all aspects of the migration process. Before, during, and after a move, queer migrants access online media for information about LGBTQ laws and norms or for help with the logistics of migration. When in a new country, queer migrants use online media to try to connect with locals. During these interactions, migrants might encounter forms of xenophobia, racism, and exclusion. In spite or because of these experiences, queer migrants utilize digital media to build new networks, such as queer diasporic communities aimed at social or political activities.

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Refugees’ Transnational Practices: Gay Iranian Men Navigating Refugee Status and Cross-border Ties in Canada

Cited by 14 publications

References 86 publications

The Intersectional Integration: Examining The Integration Experiences Of Middle Eastern LGBTQ+ Refugees In Canada and Service Providers Response

The Intersectional Integration: Examining The Integration Experiences Of Middle Eastern LGBTQ+ Refugees In Canada and Service Providers Response

Making Migration Sexy: How LGB Policies Influence International Migration

Queer Migration and Digital Media

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