Navigating anti-LGBTQ politics and homonationalism: Precarity and social support structures among Russian and Ugandan queer migrants in Sweden

What is the project about?

The positining of LGBTQ issues at the centre of geopolitical power struggles in recent years has had tangible consequences for individuals’ life situations and migration experiences. The state-sanctioned homophobia that characterises countries that claim to defend ‘traditional values’ creates a situation where people migrate to escape violence, harassment and punishment. Many then seek out so-called homonationalist countries like Sweden, which claim to prioritise LGBTQ people. At the same time, there are high demands for credibility, and many countries where the situation for sexual minorities is documented to be difficult are nevertheless deemed sufficiently safe by the authorities.

For some queer migrants, a work permit, a visa for studies, family immigration or living as an undocumented migrant becomes an option. This study examines the consequences of the politicisation of LGBTQ issues for queer migrants before, during and after migration. It focuses on migrants in Sweden from Russia and Uganda, two countries that are characterised by anti-LGBTQ agendas. In particular, it examines the conditions for and importance of social relations and communities, transnationally as well as locally; how they ma be impeded and lead to vulnerability or, on the contrary, can be strengthened and contribute to the emotional and material well-being of queer migrants.

Research questions:

In order to understand how the politicisation of LGBTQ issues is materialised in the everyday lives of queer migrants, a range of experiences of break-up, reception and opportunities to settle and rebuild their lives are examined through the following questions:

1. How do queer Russian and Ugandan migrants in Sweden experience and navigate conflicting politicisations of LGBTQ issues? How do individual and collective identifications take shape in relation to public discourses on sexuality in the countries of departure and arrival?
2. In what ways do relationships and social support networks take shape in relation to individual and collective sexual identities? What concrete relational practices do queer migrants use to manage pre- and post-migration situations, within and across borders? To what extent, and how, do relationships and social networks reinforce or protect against vulnerability at different stages of the migration process in terms of emotional and material needs?

Two main methods are used to answer the questions: biographical narrative interviews and self-produced diaries. The biographical narrative interviews are conducted in three stages: the interviewee is first encouraged to tell their story, without any interruptions or follow-up questions. After a short break, the researcher brings up certain themes that were perceived as particularly important to the interviewee. In a semi-structured interview on another occasion, the follow-up questions reflect the overall purpose of the project and the previous narrative interview. In addition, research participants are offered the opportunity to answer a small set of questions daily for one month. The purpose of the diary entries is to capture everyday micro-practices involving other people that are not captured in the biographical narratives.

Project team

The project team at Södertörn University consists of Jenny Gunnarsson Payne, professor of ethnology at the Department of History and Contemporary Studies, and Kirill Polkov, postdoctoral researcher in gender studies at the Department of Culture and Learning. Sofie Tornhill, associate professor in gender studies, participates from the Department of Social Studies at Linnaeus University. David Titelman, associate professor of psychology and psychoanalyst and affiliated with the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at Karolinska Institutet is linked to the project as a consultant. In addition, a research assistant is recruited.

Links to homepages of project participants:

• Sofie Tornhill: https://lnu.se/personal/sofie.tornhill/ External link.
  
• Jenny Gunnarsson Payne: https://www.sh.se/kontakt/forskare/jenny-gunnarsson-payne External link.
• David Titelman: https://ki.se/en/people/david-titelman External link.
• Kirill Polkov: https://www.sh.se/english/sodertorn-university/research/our-research/gender-studies/staff External link.