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LGBT+ refugees are more likely to have their asylum applications accepted if they act up to “flamboyant” stereotypes, according to a new study.
Gay migrants also stand a better chance if they can prove they attended Pride marches, visited gay bars or were involved in activism in their country of origin, the research suggested.
The anthropologist-led study interviewed LGBT+ asylum seekers from Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Pakistan applying for asylum in Germany.
They enjoyed the greatest chance of success when their stories “aligned with Western notions of queer/gay lifestyles, i.e. frequent visits to gay discos and parties, public display of love and affection, wearing rainbow-coded clothing etc”, said Dr Mengia Tschalaer, of the University of Bristol, who carried out the research, which was published in the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies.
It comes after an Iraqi man’s asylum application was rejected when authorities in Austria said they did not believe he was gay because he was “too girlish”.
Show all 50 1 /5050 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them 50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Billie Jean King, athlete ‘When I heard about Stonewall, I remember feeling just like the famous line in the movie Network – "I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more." Standing up for our community and advocating for ourselves was powerful then and it is powerful now.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, activist ‘I think what we can learn from the uprising is everything we’ve learned after it: until the most marginalised among us are free, none of us are free.’
Sarah Jeynes
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Courtney Act, performer ‘Resist. That’s what the people at the Stonewall Inn did that fateful night in 1969. They resisted arrest and the status quo because they knew that their right to love and exist was equal to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Munroe Bergdorf, activist ‘Growing up I just did not see myself reflected within the history books. But when I found out that it was Marsh P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender women of colour, who kicked off the Stonewall riots which lead to the gay rights movement... If filled me with pride.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Stephen Fry, actor ‘I think perhaps the most glorious fact of the Stonewall riots is that it was the queens, the camp, glitzy queens who saw off the police that night in Greenwich Village. Years of mockery in the streets, being jostled, spat at, arrested and pushed off the sidewalk had toughened them up.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Isis King, model ‘Trans women of colour have always stood at the forefront of this movement. Some try to erase the legacies but it’s still apparent in today’s climate that trans women are as bold as ever.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Matt Lucas, actor ‘I am eternally grateful to those who fought for the recognition of gay identity at a time when society saw it only in crude sexual terms. Stonewall was about the freedom to love without fear.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Ruth Hunt, CEO of Stonewall ‘We named ourselves after this historic moment and we continue to honour those involved by naming the meeting rooms in our London office after some of the leaders, including a lesbian woman of colour called Storme DeLarverie and two trans women of colour, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson.’
Andy Tyler
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Rikki Beadle-Blair, creator and performer ‘I put my heart and soul into the script for Stonewall. And they’re all there: the butches, the fems, the blacks and hispanics and whites. The middle-class activists. The street queens. The homeless queer kids. And they are still here, with us in every battle we still have to fight.’
Gary Beadle
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Christopher Smith, MP ‘It laid the foundation for all the campaigns for LGBT+ equality that followed: against Section 28, for an equal age of consent, for equal access to services, for equal marriage, for justice around the world in the face of hostility and violence and bigotry.’
Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Mhairi Black, politician ‘The Stonewall riots were the spark that galvanised the LGBT+ community to organise in support for our rights. From homosexuality being a criminal offence, to a law requiring a person to be wearing at least three items of “gender appropriate” clothing, 1969 was a dangerous time to be queer.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Shon Faye, writer and comedian ‘While important, I wish 28 June 1969 wasn’t held up as the single moment where LGBT+ history starts, particularly in Britain, where LGBT+ people’s political emergence has its own fascinating history.’
Random Acts
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Peter Tachell, activist ‘Since Stonewall, the LGBT+ movement has gone global; liberating hundreds of millions of people; though hundreds of millions more live in the 68 countries that still outlaw same-sex relations. The Stonewall revolution is not yet over.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Tamal Ray, baker and doctor ‘Would I have had the bravery and the fury, to do what did they did that night? Maybe. Maybe not. But I’m here today. And having grown up under the bullshit of section 28 I’m so aware of how lucky I am to have the rights and protections I do.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Owen Jones, writer ‘In the midst of a growing homophobic and transphobic backlash against victories won by LGBT+ people, we need to re-invigorate a radical queer movement with demands ranging from reforming the Gender Recognition Act to reversing cuts to LGBT+ services, to properly funding mental health.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Ruth Davidson, politician ‘Those rights and that acceptance, which have been hard-won over the last 50 years, are still fragile. LGBT+ people are still subject to hate crimes. Bosses can still be unsure over points of employment law. Prejudice persists. The fight continues.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Shahmir Sanni, whistleblower and digital strategist ‘In the UK, Stonewall collaborating with UKBlackPride and LGBT+ activists reaching out to marginalised communities with a significant focus on BAME sexual health is a giant leap forward for all of us.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Travis Alabanza, performer and activist ‘It reminds us that our change and progress will never be made in just books, or just on our screens, or just in theory - but always in practice, on the streets, together.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Ashley C Ford, writer ‘The stories of Marsha P Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and others have been carried though time by some of our most marginalised communities, beautifully and with all the reverence they deserve.’
Paul Jun
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Michael Cashman, politician, actor and co-founder of Stonewall ‘For me it signifies the moment of fighting back when the straw finally breaks the camel‘s back. That happened here in the United Kingdom when the Thatcher government introduced Section 28 in the middle of the Aids and HIV crisis being faced by the gay community.’
Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Sarah McBride, political activist ‘It is a legacy of solidarity across diversity and difference. It is a legacy of how a single act and a moment can have ripple effects for generations to come.’
Sarah McBride
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Francis Lee, filmmaker ‘I was born in the year of the Stonewall riots and through my lifetime so much has changed. Its a time to thank and celebrate the working-class queer people of colour, the heroic trans people, the drag queens, the fem guys, the butch dykes who fought for their rights to be who they are.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Ben Hunte, journalist ‘Until we have queer history taught properly within our schools, and until media organisations report on our lives with care, I hope that we can come together as a community and share our knowledge, so that our heroes are never forgotten.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Charlie Craggs, activist ‘Trans people, especially trans women of colour, need you to fight for them they way they fought for your rights 50 years ago.’
Great Big Story
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Lea DeLaria, actor and comedian ‘That riot, what I saw, my people fighting back, is the reason I have always been out and proud.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Ryan Atkin, football referee ‘Now, more than ever, we must stand firm as the tide of tolerance turns against us in many places, in an effort to undo the hard-won victories of the last few decades.’
Rex
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Leo Kaylan, musician ‘We need that spirit of solidarity now more than ever, especially for trans people and queer people of colour - especially seeing what’s happening in places like Chechnya and Brunei.’
Leo Kalyan
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Phillip Picardi , journalist and editor-in-chief of OUT magazine ‘This year, celebration may be a part of Pride – but what we really need is the rebirth of a movement, led by the very folks who have consistently been left behind.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Juno Dawson, author ‘On that date in New York, lesbians, gay men, trans people (although they wouldn’t have used that term) and all manner of queer people came together as a unified community and said no to state-sanctioned police brutality.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, activist ‘A global rise in extremism and nationalism makes our hard-fought victories vulnerable to attacks and setbacks. It serves to push back even harder and negate the strides we have already made.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Jide Macaulay, pastor and activist ‘As a black African British gay Christian living with HIV, it’s a reminder of the continuous fight for inclusion, liberation and diversity, to be respected for who I am and who I love.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Scottee, performer ‘Will those corporations be aligned with us once the parade inevitably turns back to a protest?’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Joleen Mataele, activist ‘Stonewall was the founding legend that we all learn from and we must stand tall as one community and one voice so we can pave the way for the new generations.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Lady Bunny, performer ‘Trump and other emerging nationalists worldwide tend to hold a dim view of gay people. So we must our fight back and fight less amongst ourselves on more minor issues.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Damian Barr, author ‘News that there is to be a straight pride parade made me feel like rioting like it’s June 28 1969 all over again. But straight people don’t need Pride because they weren’t born into a culture that shames their very existence.’
Bloomsbury
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Mandu Reid, Women’s Equality Party leader ‘As a bisexual black woman, I owe many of the freedoms I enjoy today to those who stood up to injustice during the Stonewall riots in 1969.’
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Jake Graf, actor and writer ‘When I transitioned I wanted to understand more about our specific transgender history and felt great pride upon learning that the Stonewall riots happened as a result of courageous and outspoken trans women, mostly of colour.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Lisa Power, co-founder of Stonewall ‘We named Stonewall here in the UK so that, no matter how “respectable” we became, we never forgot that we started with a riot.’
Ardent Theatre Company
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Matthew Todd, author and journalist ‘When a lesbian, we think Stormé DeLarverie, a woman of colour, was being arrested, she yelled to the crowd, “Why don’t you guys do something?” Her brothers and sisters – white, black, gay, bi, lesbian, trans, butch, femme – did do something and came to her aid. That’s incredibly inspiring to me.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Amrou Al-Kadhi, performer ‘The pervasiveness of the glossy rainbow flag during Pride can lull us into a sense of inaction. But as we've seen over the past month of protests, attacks and media, violence and violations against gay and trans people has not gone away.’
NowThis
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Joseph Galliano, CEO and co-founder of the Queer Britain Museum ‘Who threw the first punch is not the most important question, it’s what activists did with that pent up anger and frustration, over the long haul that made all the difference to so many lives.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them George M Johnson, Writer ‘It's important to remember the black and brown trans and queer people who led the riots on those six nights, and how our community is still fighting many of those same battles.’
Gioncarlo Valentine
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Glynn Fussel, performer and creator ‘I'm more concerned about my brothers and sisters in other countries who don't have the rights that we have. Every single day we should remember the fights that came before us.’
Sink the Pink
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Elizabeth Barker, politician ‘Small towns now celebrate their LGBT citizens and the police are no longer hostile. That is progress of which we should all be proud.’
Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them CN Lester, author ‘What matters most to me about Stonewall was that it was one protest of many, one moment in time across decades of rebellion, building community, making our mark.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Andrew Lumsden, journalist and activist ‘The uprising brought us the word “gay”. When it crossed the Atlantic to us in 1970 as the Gay Liberation Front, which I promptly joined, none of us had ever before used the word in the sense of sexual orientation. And I'm glad we did.’
50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Jamie Windust, writer ‘The stonewall riots were not only a moment in time and history, but a real signal that we are not a community that is to stay quiet and remain silenced.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Amelia Abraham, author ‘However we should remember that there are so many stories of queer join, pain, struggle and victory out there to be discovered, if we take the time to look for them.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Henry Holland, fashion designer ‘While many of us feel safe and accepted, Pride is about remembering that there are still people in the world who don’t. Until that day we need to keep pushing for total equality and acceptance for the whole of the LGBT+ community.’
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50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Carrie Lyell, journalist and editor-in-chief of DIVA magazine ‘What I know about Stonewall, I had to scrape together myself. So today, as editor of DIVA magazine, I feel I have a duty to keep the spirit and the stories of that night alive so those growing up don't need to hunt as I did.’
Agemi
The unnamed 27-year-old was reportedly told by officials his behaviour was “not authentic” in a high-profile asylum case last year.
The decision was the second time Austrian authorities had refused an asylum case on the grounds they did not believe the applicant was gay.
The treatment of LGBT+ asylum seekers in Britain has also come under the spotlight amid reports of vulnerable applicants struggling to provide adequate proof of their sexuality.
The proportion of asylum claims from members of the LGBT+ community that have been rejected by the Home Office has surged in recent years, government data released last year showed.
In total, 78 per cent of asylum claims that included a reference to sexual orientation were refused last year; 1,464 people – up from 964 rejected claims in 2015.
Dr Tschalaer’s study found people who were more open about their sexuality and gender identity in their country of origin as well as the country of arrival were much more likely to be granted asylum, in part because they were more likely to receive support for the preparation of their asylum interview.
Her research suggested those who felt unable to be open about their sexuality prior to leaving their home country were at a disadvantage when applying for asylum.
"LGBTQI+ asylum seekers who felt forced to hide their sexuality and/or gender identity, and who felt uncomfortable talking about it were usually rejected, as were those who were married or had children in their countries of origin,” she said.
“This was either because they were not recognised or believed as being LGBTQI+, or because they were told to hide in their country of origin since they had not come out yet.”
Five most anti-LGBT+ countries in Europe, according to ILGA-Europe Leila Zadeh, director of the UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG), urged European governments to "stop basing decisions on whether to grant asylum to LGBTQI+ people based on a person’s ability to articulate a "coming out story’ in line with Western stereotypes”.
She told The Independent : "UKLGIG research has similarly found that the Home Office sometimes refuses refugee status to LGBTQI+ people who find it hard to speak about their sexual orientation. They told one person who they refused that their story was 'wholly lacking in compelling detail or any emotive terminology'.
"This fails to recognise that in many parts of the world it is taboo to talk about emotions and relationships. People who do not conform to a society's gender norms may never have spoken about their sexuality or gender identity at all. European governments should stop basing decisions on whether to grant asylum to LGBTQI+ people based on a person’s ability to articulate a ‘coming out story’ in line with Western stereotypes”.
