Between Struggles and Expectations: Queer Experiences within Immigrant Families
Author
Al Maleh, Dalia Francies
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2023
Submitted on
2023-06-29
Pages
58
Abstract
This thesis examines how LGBT+ people with immigrant backgrounds make sense of and navigate their relationships with parents in relation to their sexual identity. Set against a political landscape marked by rising xenophobia and expanding LGBT+ rights, the study challenges simplistic victim narratives that often frame racialized queer individuals solely through family rejection. Drawing on participants’ own accounts and a qualitative design that combines grounded theory and narrative analysis, it explores how race and sexuality intersect in everyday family dynamics, with a particular focus on portrayals of family and the process of coming out. The findings show that navigating intergenerational relationships involves balancing parental struggles and expectations, and that participants deploy a range of strategies to renegotiate their place within the family. Sexual orientation acts as a catalyst for this renegotiation, turning the family into a dynamic arena in which a moral economy operates. The thesis contributes a more nuanced understanding of QTBIPOC experiences and underscores the need to move beyond oversimplified victimhood narratives in both research and practice.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan LGBT+ personer med immigrantbaggrund forstår og navigerer deres forhold til forældre i relation til deres seksuelle identitet. Udgangspunktet er et politisk landskab præget af stigende fremmedfjendtlighed og voksende LGBT+-rettigheder, hvor fortællinger om racialiserede queer-personer ofte reduceres til simple offerpositioner. Med afsæt i informanternes egne beretninger og gennem en kvalitativ tilgang, der kombinerer grounded theory og narrativ analyse, udforsker studiet, hvordan race og seksualitet flettes sammen i hverdagsliv og familierelationer. Analysen fokuserer særligt på informanternes beskrivelser af deres familier og processer omkring at springe ud. Fundene viser, at det at navigere intergenerationelle relationer indebærer at balancere forældres kampe og forventninger, og at informanterne anvender forskellige strategier til at genforhandle deres plads i familien. Seksuel orientering fungerer som en katalysator for denne genforhandling og gør familien til en dynamisk arena, hvor en moralsk økonomi er på spil. Specialet bidrager med en mere nuanceret forståelse af QTBIPOC-oplevelser og peger på behovet for at gå ud over forsimplede offerfortællinger i forskning og praksis.
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