[Review] C. Winter Han (2015) Geisha of a different kind: race and sexuality in gaysian America

Book review

Racialised lesbian spaces: a Mancunian ethnography

This thesis seeks to understand the relationship between sexuality, ‘race’ and space within the context of urban night-time leisure spaces for women. It is informed by and draws on different fields: sexual geographies, critical ‘race’ scholarship, feminist and queer theories, studies on whiteness, postmodern spatial theories. The intellectual roots of this thesis lie in black feminist theories of gender, ‘race’ and sexuality (and class) as intersecting categories and fields of experience. The thesis draws on poststructuralist approaches that theorise sexuality and ‘race’ as discursively and performatively produced. It argues that ‘race’ and sexuality are mutually constitutive categories and that they can only be understood in relation to each other. The ethnographic fieldwork of this study is carried out in specific sexualised spaces, namely two lesbian bars in Manchester’s Gay Village. Through participant observations in those bars and qualitative interviews with women who identify as lesbian and bisexual and white, mixed-race, black and East Asian, the thesis explores the role of ‘race’ in the construction of lesbian bodies and spaces and how sexuality, ‘race’ and space work together in shaping subjectivities. The aims of this study are manifold: to develop an understanding of how practices of inclusion and exclusion work in leisure spaces designed to meet the needs of a marginalised group; to find new ways of understanding ‘race’ and sexuality by looking at their spatial relationship; to contribute to debates on sexuality and space by investigating how space is simultaneously sexualised and racialised; to contribute to existing research on whiteness through an exploration of how different forms of whiteness spatially intersect with sexuality

The reform of the Common European Asylum System: fifteen recommendations from a sexual orientation and gender identity perspective

Since the 1990s, the European Union (EU) has slowly developed an increasingly sophisticated body of asylum law and policy, known as the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). This framework – both in the shape of legislative instruments and case law – has inevitably also affected those asylum seekers who claim asylum on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity (SOGI). This has been vividly demonstrated by particular norms in EU asylum instruments and judgments of the Court of Justice of EU (CJEU). The current CEAS can be said to have several shortcomings in relation to SOGI claims, including in relation to: country of origin information; the notion of ‘safe country of origin’; the burden of proof and the principle of benefit of the doubt; the concept of a ‘particular social group’; and the definition of persecution. A new set of proposals for reform of the CEAS was put forward in 2016 by the European Commission, and these also affect SOGI asylum claims in precise and acute ways. This policy brief scrutinises these proposals of reform, and assesses the extent to which these proposals and different institutional positions address, ignore or aggravate the issues that currently affect asylum seekers who identify as LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex). The policy brief makes fifteen recommendations for European policymakers in regards to the reform of the CEAS, in order to ensure that the needs of LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees are effectively addressed and their rights are respected. Academics from the University of Sussex working on the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum (SOGICA) project, funded by the European Research Council, are calling for policymakers to implement these recommendations in order to render the CEAS fairer for SOGI asylum seekers

32 recommendations to the European Commission on the new EU LGBTI+ Equality Strategy

Our overriding concern is that the EU LGBTI+ Equality Strategy should acknowledge the need to prioritise and protect the rights and needs of LGBTI+ asylum claimants and refugees. SOGICA (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum: A European Human Rights Challenge) is a four-year (2016-2020) research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) that explores the social and legal experiences of individuals across Europe claiming international protection on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). It is led by Professor Nuno Ferreira and a team of researchers at the University of Sussex who are Dr Carmelo Danisi, Dr Moira Dustin and Dr Nina Held. Our research addresses the experiences and needs of those LGBTI+ people who are discriminated and persecuted and claim international protection in EU Member States. Our feedback relates to how we can ensure that these asylum claimants and refugees are treated in a fairer and more appropriate way. Please find attached full feedback

Queer asylum in Germany: better visibility and access to legal and social support needed for LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum in Germany / Queeres Asyl in Deutschland: Bessere Sichtbarkeit und besserer Zugang zu rechtlicher und sozialer Unterstützung für LSBTQI* Geflüchtete

Policy Briefing 77, in English and Germa

Queering asylum in Europe: a survey report

This report discusses the data gathered through two surveys carried out in the context of the SOGICA project. SOGICA – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum: A European human rights challenge – is a four-year (2016-2020) research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) that explores the social and legal experiences of people across Europe claiming international protection on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI)

30 raccomandazioni per migliorare l’esperienza delle persone che chiedono protezione internazionale in ragione dell’orientamento sessuale o dell’identità di genere (SOGI) in Italia

Sono trascorsi quasi 40 anni dall’accoglimento delle prime richieste di asilo SOGI e, da quel momento, sono stati compiuti molti passi avanti in materia a livello globale ed europeo. Oggi è evidente una maggiore consapevolezza in merito alle persecuzioni perpetrate in ragione dell’orientamento sessuale o dell’identità di genere ed emergono buone pratiche nel trattamento di queste richieste di protezione internazionale che meritano di essere promosse e replicate. Il progetto SOGICA ha identificato queste buone pratiche e ha individuato nuove aree rispetto alle quali occorre intervenire urgentemente. A tal fine, proponiamo qui 30 raccomandazioni basate sui dati raccolti nel corso della ricerca (2016-2020) che, attraverso le interviste, i focus group e i sondaggi, ha coinvolto circa 500 persone

Queering asylum in Europe: legal and social experiences of seeking international protection on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity

This two-volume open-access book offers a theoretically and empirically-grounded portrayal of the experiences of people claiming international protection in Europe on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). It shows how European asylum systems might and should treat asylum claims based on people’s SOGI in a fairer, more humane way. Through a combined comparative, interdisciplinary (socio-legal), human rights, feminist, queer and intersectional approach, this book examines not only the legal experiences of people claiming asylum on grounds of their SOGI, but also their social experiences outside the asylum decision-making framework. The authors analyse how SOGI-related claims are adjudicated in different European frameworks (European Union, Council of Europe, Germany, Italy and UK) and offer detailed recommendations to adequately address the intersectional experiences of individuals seeking asylum. This unique approach ensures that the book is of interest not only to researchers in migration and refugee studies, law and wider academic communities, but also to policy makers and practitioners in the field of SOGI asylum

30 recommendations for improving the lives of people claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) in the UK

It is now nearly forty years since the first SOGI asylum claims were recognised, and a great deal of progress has been made at a global and European level. There is increased awareness of SOGI persecution as well as examples of good policy and practice that should be publicised and replicated. However, alongside these, the SOGICA project found many areas where improvement is urgently needed, and we address these here. These recommendations largely reflect the views of almost 500 people, those who participated in the SOGICA project’s interviews, focus groups and online surveys

30 Empfehlungen zur Verbesserung des Lebens von Menschen, die aufgrund von ihrer sexuellen Orientierung oder Geschlechtsidentität (SOGI) in Deutschland Asyl beantragen

Vor inzwischen beinahe vierzig Jahren wurden die ersten SOGI-Asylanträge anerkannt. Seither wurden auf globaler und europäischer Ebene bedeutende Fortschritte erzielt. Das Bewusstsein für Verfolgung aufgrund von SOGI ist stärker geworden und es gibt Beispiele für bewährte Richtlinien und Praktiken. Das SOGICA-Projekt hat jedoch viele Bereiche gefunden, in denen dringend Verbesserungen erforderlich sind – diese thematisieren wir hier. Die folgenden Empfehlungen spiegeln weitgehend die Ansichten von fast 500 Personen wider, die an den Interviews, Fokusgruppen und Online-Umfragen des SOGICA-Projekts teilgenommen haben