Experiences of seeking asylum on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity in the United States

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2016.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 56-59).What is the experience like for LGBT Asylum Seekers in the United States? How can we conceive a sense of citizenship belonging among this population? For LGBT asylum seekers in the United States, the notion of gaining formal status as a refugee and ultimately U.S. citizenship is often a long, challenging process. An extended waiting time for asylum adjudication exasperates gaps in protection within an overall system of laws and policies that lean toward heteronormative - often unwelcoming or discriminatory - definitions of sexual orientation and gender identity. As such, these hurdles are not simply administratively remedied. They are meaningful conditions that restrict rights and ultimately a fundamental sense of citizenship belong. I argue that we can define a unique notion of transnational citizenship among LGBT asylum seekers who are caught between oppressive and unequitable formal institutions. Drawing from existing migration theory and citizenship studies, I claim that LGBT asylum seekers may form a sense of transnational citizenship that is not linked to a habitual physical crossing of national boundaries, but rather is concerned with the formation of enclaves of closely-knit LGBT sub-diaspora communities with the United States.by David J. Isaak.M.C.P