Ritchie: Palestinian LGBTQ Refugees
In this article Ritchie talks about
the struggle of the Palestinian homosexual. He recalls how he was going to a
gay bar in Israel with his friends and wondering if they would get in this
time. They had planned to stop speaking Arabic as they got closer to the bar,
to act more “gay” than usual and try not to give away that they are
Palestinian. They did not gain entrance that night. Palestinian LGBT members
have an extremely tough time. In their country they are seen as immoral and
evil sinners doomed to damnation. There is no community there, it would be
snuffed out. So Palestinians flee to Israel, a country that has somewhat
accepted the gay community and culture. However, this is a strange place for
Palestinians to escape to. Israel and Palestine are intertwined in an age old
war over land and birth right, religion and destiny. The Palestinian homosexual
has a chance to be accepted if he plays the victim of an evil and oppressive
home country. If he rejects Palestine and comes to Israel as an open refugee of
Muslim oppression there is a chance he will be accepted. Due to the war between
the two countries there is a lot of discrimination and political hoops to jump
through even after escaping to Israel. Activists in both camps try to stay away
from political topics and support what they deem strictly LGBT community
issues. This leads to problems because the two are very clearly related,
especially in this case with the Palestinian refugees. A big part of the
Palestinian struggle is also that they cannot take the path of a traditional
western homosexual and come out of the closet, they must pass or escape.
Q: What do you think about Israel
accepting homosexuals but using the community to discriminate and manipulate
those that are of the background of their political rival/enemy
Berg: Asylum Claimants
This article takes a look at
refugees seeking Asylum in other countries on the basis of being persecuted and
prosecuted for being a LGBT member in their own country. These individuals are
forced to pass as heteronormative people in their countries. This creates
barriers to self-identification, reluctance to group membership and leads to
depression and shame, impacting mental health. Sadly these factors also present
barriers for these refugees in the legal process. Some countries still do not
believe the narratives of these victimized LGBT refugees. Believing the story
is a cover in order to be granted asylum and escape their country of origin for
other reasons and agendas, calling these gender identities not plausible
Q: How would you feel if you had to
hide your identity in your home country and when you fled in order to join a
tolerant country they thought you were pretending in order to escape and be
accepted.
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