Political Science
Dancing around gender expression and sex talk: LGBTQ+ asylum policy in the United States
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In this article, I argue that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ current guidelines for LGBTQ+ asylum adjudication are both underinclusive and improperly restrictive. They are underinclusive because they are insufficiently attentive to LGBTQ+ applicants’ right to protection from persecution on the basis of gender expression. They also flatten the concept of gender identity by conflating it with transgender identity, thus reconsolidating a transgender/cisgender binary that impedes asylum officers’ ability to find cognizable those gender identities that exceed these two terms. The guidelines are also improperly restrictive because they forbid specific discussions of sex acts during the asylum interview. To be sure, this proscription is a response to widespread recent reports of abuse of applicants around the world. Nevertheless, it overcorrects for the problem and, in turn, hinders asylum officers’ ability to elicit detailed testimonies as well as impedes, in all likelihood, the ability of some applicants to furnish credible testimonials.
Publication Title
Journal of Human Rights
Publication Date
2024
ISSN
1475-4835
DOI
10.1080/14754835.2024.2331741
Keywords
LGBTQ+, asylum policies, United States policies, gender identity, US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Repository Citation
Ghosh, Cyril, "Dancing around gender expression and sex talk: LGBTQ+ asylum policy in the United States" (2024). Political Science. 14.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_political_science/14
