Queer asylum seekers: translating sexuality in Norway

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the burden of proof that queer asylum seekers encounter in Norway and how they tackle it. It is argued that queer asylum seekers translate their sexuality, sometimes strategically, to become readable in the Norwegian context. The act of translation appears to take the form of a ‘rainbow splash’ over the lives of the informants. The recurrence of similar narratives painted with similar colours contributes to a monolithic portrayal of sexualised and racialised asylum seekers, as they are unable to incorporate their own vocabularies during the act of translation. As a result, queer informants contribute to the (re)production of new norms about what it means to be a genuine queer person in need of protection. Therefore, genuineness remains an unattainable ideal for individuals seeking to negotiate their sexuality before, during and after the asylum seeking process.

KEYWORDS:

• Queer
• Asylum
• Norway
• sexuality
• migration

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my colleagues at The Center for Gender Studies, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at NTNU for their valuable comments regarding this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The article states: ‘Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.’

2. http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/03/guilty-until-proven-innocent-trial-lgbt-asylum-seekers-detained-uk.

3. ‘Czech gay asylum “phallometric test” criticised by EU’, available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11954499.

4. New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland.

5. GI-07/2012 Instruks om tolkning av Utlendingsloven § 28 første ledd bokstav a – forfølgelse på grunn av seksuell orientering og kjønnsidentitet, 5(a).

6. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/fotor-color-splash-studio/9wzdncrfhwr5.

7. A workshop on anal sex arranged by Helseutvalget Gay&Lesbian Healthy Norway.

8. http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/trondheim/article11550827.ece.

9. http://www.blikk.no/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=11046:s%C3%A5rbar-p%C3%A5-asylmottak&Itemid=164.

10. I livsfare på asylmottaket, http://www.nrk.no/magasin/_-i-livsfare-pa-asylmottaket-1.11550259.

11. A board member told me via e-mail when I asked her.

12. Underrettsavgjørelser Dokument- ID: LB-2014-31488.

13. Underrettsavgjørelser Dokument- ID: LB-2014-31488.