Andrade, Vítor Lopes (2019) Gay African refugees in Brazil: a Diaspora? In: Majhail, Harjinder Singh and Dogan, Sinan (eds.) World of diasporas: different perceptions on the concept of diaspora. At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries, 117 . Brill, Leiden, Boston, pp. 86-91. ISBN 9789004387966

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Abstract

The number and diversity of refugees and asylum seekers in Brazil have been increasing exponentially since 2010 – the average of asylum seekers raised to 900 % in this period. The figure of lgbtiq refugees who asked for asylum in Brazil has grown. The first time the Brazilian government conferred refugee status for someone who migrated due to gender identity was in 2002 for a gay Colombian man. The majority of people who ask for asylum in Brazil are men that come from Africa, mainly Nigeria. This research analyses whether gay African refugees in Brazil can be considered a diasporic population. To meet this purpose, an ethnographic perspective was used taking city of São Paulo as the focus of research as it receives maximum asylum seekers. The results show that if we consider diasporas as communities who perceive themselves as a cultural construction of collective membership living outside their homeland, this cannot be applied to gay African refugees who live in Brazil, since the sexual cultural approach of African diasporas do not include non-heterosexuality. Most of them came by themselves to Brazil and do not want to keep in touch with their fellow citizens. This happens because other people who came from the original country but are not lgbtiq discriminate against them. The conclusion is that the gay African refugees do not form a diaspora in Brazil: most times they just do not want to be with their fellow countrymen and whenever they need to be, they hide their sexuality.

Item Type:	Book Section
Schools and Departments:	School of Global Studies > Anthropology
SWORD Depositor:	Mx Elements Account
Depositing User:	Mx Elements Account
Date Deposited:	14 Sep 2020 08:23
Last Modified:	14 Sep 2020 08:23
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/93737

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