LGBTQ+ children in Immigrant Families

In many households, it is crucial that there is a safe space for children to be comfortable enough to express who they are. Without a safe space to express their feelings, children can feel lost and frustrated with the lack of support they receive. At the intersection of being an immigrant and also identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, sexuality and immigration status can be an intersection that individuals face. As the narrative shifts to living open and free from stigma lives, children of immigrants can face trouble when navigating through traditional ideals living in a progressive country. Furthermore, children and young adolescents are at a pivotal time for self-discovery, vulnerability, and exploration, it may be difficult to live under a roof that instills traditional, outdated ideas of sexuality. The heteronormative narrative can become forced onto children who live in fear of being rejected for who they truly are and forced to succumb to heterosexuality even if it is against who they are. It is recognized that the "LGBTQ population and HIV-positive immigrants are an especially vulnerable population" (Immigration Equality, 2015).

According to Chaze and Giwa (2018), immigration in Canada has been instilled into Canadian culture as a mosaic of multiculturalism. They discuss the reasons that immigrants choose Canada, with one being the reputation of being tolerant, diverse, and inclusive and "more than three decades of policies defending rights and freedoms of all people" (Chaze and Giwa, 2018). Moreover, they acknowledge that "heterosexual immigrants have not had to endure oppression based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as have many LGBTQ immigrants" (Chaze and Giwa, 2018). Through an intersectional lens, their immigration status, sexual orientation and gender identity can leave individuals with various dimensions of inequality as "LGBTQ immigrants are often an invisible section of the larger immigrant community" (Chaze and Giwa, 2018).

The Conversation on Immigration and LGBTQ+ Rights

Immigration Equality

The organization "Immigration Equality" established in 1994, seeks to "advocate for and represent lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), and HIV-positive immigrants seeking safety, fair treatment, and freedom". Their core values include (but are not limited to) saving lives, access to legal aid, advocating for policy reform. They believe that it is a mission to allow for individuals, especially those who find themselves in situations where identifying as LGBTQ+ is a crime, to have access to "free direct legal services" specifically "asylum seekers, LGBTQ Binational couples and families who are separated by oceans, detained people trapped in immigration jails, [and] undocumented LGBTQ people living in the shadows of inside the US". (Immigration Equality, 2015). This organization recognizes that representation is not guarenteed for immigrants, therefore fights for the right to access legal counsel. This is done by having law firms across the United States donate their legal services pro-bono, receiving "nearly $32 million in donated legal services" (Immigration Equality, 2015).

Because in over 80 countries identifying as LGBTQ+ is criminal, Immigration Equality fights to obtain asylum for those faced in these dire situations.

Furthermore, this organization continues to strive for policy reform and fair treatment through "lobbying Congress to pass progressive bills like the Reuniting Families Act, which would allow family recognition for LGBTQ couples fleeing countries where they had no access to marriage equality; advocating against discriminatory administrative policies, like the requirement by the Centers for Disease Control that people living with HIV undergo unnecessary, lengthy, and unsafe tests abroad before obtaining a green card; and training all of the new asylum officers in the United States on LGBTQ and HIV immigration law" (Immigration Equality, 2015).

Organizations like these are extremely crucial in the fight for fair treatment within immigration and the LGBTQ+ community because it defends the right for individuals to be who they are, access to legal aid if necessary, and has the best interest for those who face persecution for the right to live freely.

Advocates: Laverne Cox and Karamo Brown

Laverne Cox is an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. According to her website, she states that she went from gender nonconforming to increasingly femme. Later on she would began her medical transitions and looked to performing in drag shows as an outlet to perform. Having personal experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ has provided Cox with a platform to advocate for this community's rights. During the Marriot's Beyond Barriers event in New York, she is quoted saying "It's such an emotional issue right now for the entire country because of what's happening at the border" followed by

"Immigration is [also] an LGBTQ issue. We are having a conversation about immigration now, but that is not divorced from LGBTQ rights. That's a global conversation. These conversations are all intersecting. It's all connected." (The Advocate, 2019).

Laverne Cox and Karamo Brown at the Marriot's Beyond Barriers event in New York.

Additionally, Karamo Brown of Queer Eye believes that visibility is the one of the most important parts of introducing empathy. He speaks to the LGBTQ immigration population: "[W]hen you think about immigration you don't think about the intersection of LGBTQIA people. People think of heterosexual families - mama and father and children. But within those families are LGBTQIA people, and not only are they fearing for there lives because they're asylum-seekers, but there's this added level of When I do find safety, am I still going to be safe if I live my truth?" (The Advocate, 2019). This re-emphasizes the importance of going beyond heteronormative narratives and being advocates for communities that need support. According to Cisneros (2017), "their visibility highlights how racialized queer and trans undocumented bodies are targets of surveillance, criminalization, and incarceration, particularly within the current sociopolitical context of the United States".

Campaigns to Support LGBTQ+ Individuals Immigrating/Travelling

Marriot International announced their #LoveTravels Beyond Barriers campaign in 2018 in order to advocate for those travelling across borders and abroad to "promote inclusion, equality, peace and human rights" (Marriot International, 2018). This organization has donated $100,000 to Immigration Equality to support their mission to advocate, represent, and aid in legal counsel for the LGBTQ+ community, asylum-seekers and HIV-positive immigrants.

Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP)

This topic is unique because it touches on the individual challenge of personal invisible experiences of those who identify at this intersection. Social media is integral because it highlights these complexities with personal narratives that can unite those who find the content relatable. Gentile and Salerno (2017) analyze the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project by "attempt[ing] to communicate intersectionality online" by using "Images posted by QUIP demonstrat[ing] how the existing ideas and values of separate established immigrant and LGBTQ movements can be reformulated and repackaged" (Gentile and Salerno, 2017). Social media is analyzed as a buffer to shed light on these invisible experiences by "distribut[ing] their political claims to the bystander public and potentially sympathetic allies" (Bennet and Segerberg, 2012; Earl and Kimport, 2011).

The focal point of this article are undocumented immigrants who have limited access to resources and social policies. Although Gentile and Salerno (2017) acknowledge that the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) act aids immigrant youth, the QUIP delves deeper and argues that "undocumented lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people face unique struggles" (Gentile and Salerno, 2017). Currently, the GUIP is partaking in the 'Break the Cage' campaign where they bring awareness to dangers of detention centres and deportation for Queer immigrants where "they may be incarcerated in centres that do not align with their gender identities or fear being sent to countries where they may face harassment for their sexual orientations" (QUIP, 2015).

LGBTQ+ Youth of Colour In Urban Cities

Focusing on the cultural capital of the United States, New York City's queer youth of colour are subject to limited access to safe public spaces, housing, health services given their immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and age. Irazábel and Huerta observe and analyze a specific part of New York, namely West Village. Here, the field work they do is mainly interviewing LGBTQ+ individuals, observing meetings and facilities, and the media coverage that LGBTQ+ individuals attain. The focus of this article is urban planning, to fully understand the resilience that the LGBTQ+ youth community continues to show as recommendations are made to urban planners and policy creators. This resistance enables LGBTQ+ youth of colour to be recognized instead of living 'invisible experiences' while enabling rights to understand the unique needs of this community. By positive and understanding dialogue between these groups, LGBTQ+ youth of colour are able to access "safe housing and public spaces, poverty reduction programs and job opportunities, and health and social support services" (Irazábel and Huerta, 2015).

The critique mentioned is that LGBTQ+ is generally based on experiences of queer white males that excludes the invisible experiences and needs of LGBTQ+ women and people of colour at an intersection of inequality. LGBTQ+ youth often face a mixture of discrimination faced due to their immigration status, colour of their skin, gender identity, age, and sexual orientation that is the climax of sexual exclusion. Irazábel and Huerta (2015) assert that this oppressed group that is continously silenced "can lead to unplanned single parenthood, sexually transmitted diseases, or lack of preparation for the labour market, effects that ultimately disempower them".

By allowing for urban planners and social policy creators to understand this community and demographic, doors of opportunities open for resilience towards heteronormative ideals. It is crucial that these individuals that are in positions of power who can implement laws, social policy, and even urban design that can positively impact and accomodate those who identify with this oppressed community.

LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Schools (US)

Chappell, Ketchum, and Richardson (2018) have created a guide to support students that includes recommendations of effective practices to support this oppressed group of students within "curriculum, pedagogy, and school environment". They encourage creating inclusive environments, an understanding community, and valuable relationships. Addressing these topics allows teachers and educators to support students on their own respective journeys towards determining their sexual orientation and gender identity.

"Every time we lose an LGBTQ child or a student with a self-determined gender identity, we are complicit in not doing enough" (Chappell et al., 2018).

Chappell et al. (2018) acknowledge that school is one of the most influential and important environments for children and youth to develop. Because of this, actions such as someone laughing at a student because of their gender identity and/or sexual orientation can be detrimental. It is crucial to take action because as educators and individuals can put a stop to this behaviour, and if it is not stopped, it can be seen indirectly as permission to allow for "different forms of queer-based violence". This is understood through the metaphor of a nail going into the victim's body, and Chappell et. al (2018) assert that it makes it almost impossible to express their true identity without fear of being ridiculed or even harmed.

Chappell et al. (2018) provide sustainable recommendations for the collective on the basis that those who interact, engage, and work alongside students commit to understanding this demographic as vulnerable and to hear their concerns. They urge educators to look at the root causes and the "subsequent conditions that have created injustice in the first place" steering away from "gender-typical" routines that will enable strong and real transformation in the lives of these children. Chappell et al. (2018) assert that if educators, policy-makers and individuals that are in contact with youth continue to engage in heteronormative traditions and systems, ignorance about LGBTQ and gender identity topics are strengthened and continually perpetuated in a negative, cruel cycle.