Description
The central challenge for people claiming asylum because of their sexuality is proving that sexuality to state decision-makers. There are overarching themes that decision-makers look for in their evaluations of the “truth” of these claims, such as a proximity to fixed, Eurocentric ideas of homosexuality, or the apparent consistency of a claimant’s narrative. However, decision-makers also value some forms of evidence more highly than others, particularly witness statements from citizens of the receiving state or letters of support from trusted organisations. This makes the legal, social and material work that support organisations do also operate as borderwork. Participation in an organisation’s activities becomes a vital part of convincingly (re)producing a claimant’s sexuality in the receiving state. Concurrently, the state outsources the evaluation of the “truth” of that sexuality to actors in the support sector. Based on findings from interviews with asylum seekers and refugees, lawyers, journalists and the staff of LGBTQ+ asylum support services in the UK and France, this paper explores the ways in which LGBTQ+ asylum support services can therefore simultaneously facilitate and hinder access to asylum by acting as gatekeepers of queer sexuality and thus the border.
