Intersections of gender, sexuality and ‘race’ in queer asylum claims

Drawing on one of the author’s own experiences with the asylum system and findings from a major European study on queer asylum claims, this chapter looks at intersections of gender, sexuality and ‘race’ in asylum claims by queer refugees in Europe. It demonstrates how decision-makers often fail to acknowledge the intersectional nature of the risk of persecution and how gender and ‘race’ shape sexual identities, which makes it especially difficult for queer women to be recognised as refugees. The chapter argues that an intersectional lens needs to be brought together with a postcolonial perspective to truly understand the experiences of queer refugees in an asylum system that is fundamentally unjust. Not only can we find Western colonial understanding of gender and sexuality in asylum decision-making processes, but Europe’s asylum system overall, including accommodation and access to the labour market, for instance, is shaped by the history of colonialism and continuous racial inequalities, making some lives more ‘liveable’ than others.