Queer Credibility in the Homonation-State: Interrogating the Affective Impacts of Credibility Assessments on Racialized Sexual Minority Refugee Claimants

Jen Rinaldi; Shanti Fernando

doi:10.7202/1060673ar

Queer Credibility in the Homonation-State: Interrogating the Affective Impacts of Credibility Assessments on Racialized Sexual Minority Refugee Claimants

Authors

Jen Rinaldi University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Shanti Fernando University of Ontario Institute of Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7202/1060673ar

Keywords:

Canada, Canada v Ward, credibility, credibility assessments, sexual identity, sexual minorities, racialization, homonationalism, refugees

Abstract

This article critically appraises Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board decision-making that imposes burdens on diverse sexual orientation and gender identity and expression refugee claimants of colour to prove that they are queer according to homonationalist interpretations of queerness. This article examines decisions clustered around historical developments in the reception of racialized sexual minorities, including Canada (AG) v Ward, which made sexual minority refugee claims possible; Bill C-31, the immigration and refugee policy motivated by national security interests in the post-9/11 era; and 2017 guidelines designed to dispel misunderstandings about refugee claimants’ sexuality. Across this history, credibility assessments of refugee claims have undergone significant recalibrations, yet continue to reflect homonationalist values.

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Author Biographies

Jen Rinaldi, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Dr. Jen Rinaldi is an Assistant Professor in the Legal Studies Program at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). She engages with narrative and arts-based methodologies to deconstruct eating disorder recovery in relation to queer community, and to explore and story traumatic histories of institutionalization.

Shanti Fernando, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Dr. Shanti Fernando is an Associate Professor in the Political Science Program at UOIT whose work has explored racism, sexism, and sanism in historical and continuing exclusionary immigration policies and processes. She currently works on community development issues such as adult education for those with psychiatric disabilities, social service support policies, and anti-poverty policies.

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Published

2019-06-03

How to Cite

Rinaldi, J., & Fernando, S. (2019). Queer Credibility in the Homonation-State: Interrogating the Affective Impacts of Credibility Assessments on Racialized Sexual Minority Refugee Claimants. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 35(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.7202/1060673ar

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Issue

Vol. 35 No. 1 (2019): Racialized Refuge

Section

Articles

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Refuge authors retain the copyright over their work, and license it to the general public under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License International (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows for non-commercial use, reproduction and adaption of the material in any medium or format, with proper attribution. For general information on Creative Commons licences, visit the Creative Commons site. For the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, review the human readable summary.