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Gay African refugees in Brazil: a Diaspora?

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posted on 2023-06-09, 21:35 authored by Vítor Lopes AndradeVítor Lopes Andrade
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.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Publisher

Brill

Volume

117

Page range

86-91

Pages

114.0

Book title

World of diasporas: different perceptions on the concept of diaspora

Place of publication

Leiden, Boston

ISBN

9789004387966

Series

At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries

Department affiliated with

  • Anthropology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • No

Editors

Harjinder Singh Majhail, Sinan Dogan

Legacy Posted Date

2020-09-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-09-14

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