Doing, being and verbalizing: Narratives of queer migrants from Muslim backgrounds in Spain

Abstract

The hegemonic narrative in the West establishes that having same-sex relationships constitutes an identity that must be public. This article analyses how this narrative is reproduced and/or subverted in the discourses of queer migrant people from Muslim backgrounds in Catalonia (Spain). The analysis of 10 interviews reveals a more fluid notion of sexual orientation, an uncomfortableness with the identity categories regarding sexuality, and a stronger distinction between the public and the private boundaries. The informants found themselves in a complex situation that made it impossible for them to completely reproduce or subvert the overlapping normativities of both the origin and host society, compelling them to devise hybrid strategies to live their sexuality. The article closes with a reflection on the implications of the different ways of living sexuality in relation to the theorization of sexual/intimate citizenship and LGBT equality policies, which also reproduce the western hegemonic understanding of sexuality.