Abstract

Despite the increasing awareness of the difficulties facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) refugees worldwide over the last few years, there has been little research undertaken to critically investigate discourses of LGBT refugee accommodations in Germany. Separate living spaces for LGBT refugees aim to minimize experiences of discrimination and violence. However, homophobia and transphobia also occur in LGBT-exclusive refugee accommodations but remain unrepresented in the media and undiscussed in academia. In this paper, I aim to explore the paradoxical argument for separation of LGBT refugees in the context of homonationalist narratives. Deploying homonationalism as an analytical tool, the paper examines narratives about LGBT refugees found in 117 German LGBT magazine articles. The study reveals simplistic representations that reinforce orientalist imaginations of refugee accommodations as an unsafe space for LGBT individuals. Narratives about LGBT refugees, coherent with existing metanarratives of victimization and saviorism, my study suggests, cement essentialist assumptions of progressiveness and liberation by equating the situation in their countries of origin with living conditions in refugee accommodations. Media coverage reinforces a line of argument where ‘vulnerable’, ‘passive’ LGBT refugees in a threatening environment depend on the rescue by German LGBT organizations. The establishment and promotion of LGBT-exclusive accommodations, therefore, must be read in a political context where LGBT organizations navigate tension between accessing resources and permanently legitimizing their work. My in-depth analysis of the textual structure and spatial connotations reveals a pattern of an odyssey in which the LGBT-exclusive accommodation is presented as a safe haven.

摘要

尽管在过去几年中，人们越来越意识到全球女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和跨性别 (LGBT) 难民面临的困难，但很少有研究对德国 LGBT 难民住宿的话语进行批判性调查。为 LGBT 难民提供单独的生活空间旨在最大程度地减少歧视和暴力的经历。然而，同性恋恐惧症和跨性别恐惧症也发生在 LGBT 专属的难民收容所中，但在媒体中仍然没有代表，在学术界也没有讨论。在本文中，我旨在探讨在同民族主义叙事背景下分离 LGBT 难民的矛盾论点。该论文将同性民族主义作为一种分析工具，考察了 117 篇德国 LGBT 杂志文章中关于 LGBT 难民的叙述。该研究揭示了简单化的表述，强化了东方主义者对难民住所的想象，将其视为对 LGBT 个人来说不安全的空间。我的研究表明，关于 LGBT 难民的叙事与现有的受害和救世主叙事相一致，通过将其原籍国的情况与难民收容所的生活条件等同起来，巩固了进步和解放的本质主义假设。媒体报道强化了一个论点，即在威胁环境中“弱势”、“被动”的 LGBT 难民取决于德国 LGBT 组织的救援。因此，必须在 LGBT 组织驾驭资源获取和工作永久合法化之间的紧张关系的政治背景下，解读 LGBT 专属住宿的建立和推广。