In or out? A Queer intersectional approach to ‘Particular Social Group’ membership and credibility in SOGI asylum claims in Germany and the UK

Individuals claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) in Europe must prove to the authorities in question that they are ‘credible’ and meet the Refugee Convention criteria. In most cases, they do this by demonstrating that they belong to a Particular Social Group (PSG). However, for some time advocates and researchers have argued that SOGI claimants are treated both unfairly and inconsistently. In this article we use queer and intersectional theories to argue that one explanation for this is how PSG membership has come to be interpreted. Looking at recent experience in two EU countries – Germany and the UK – we argue that this is done in a way that is both prescriptive, in requiring claimants to conform to liminal understandings of sexual and gender identity, but also narrow and one-dimensional, in ignoring other aspects of the claimant’s identity and assuming that SOGI asylum seekers are only sexual or gendered beings.