Navigating Gender Identity: South Asian Transgender Asylum Seekers in the Trump-Era US

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Transgender Consciousness, Realities, and Activism

Abstract

Individuals seek asylum in the US for protection from prosecution and threats back in their home country due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. This paper investigates the experience of transgender asylum seekers from South Asia in the United States, focusing on how asylum seekers from this region navigate their gender identity while applying for asylum and assimilating into the American socio-cultural condition while the newly elected Trump administration is imposing restrictive asylum and immigration policies.
Drawing from in-depth qualitative interviews with LGBTQ+ and hijra asylum seekers from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, this paper in progress investigates the motivations behind seeking asylum in the US, their current condition, their navigation of gender identity in the US, and the challenges they encounter while within the asylum process. The migration experience of asylees is shaped by the socio-political climate both in their home countries and in the United States. In South Asia (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan), despite ‘hijra’ being recognized as third-gender, widespread hatred, discrimination, stigma, and legal persecution still exists. In the US, the Trump-era immigration and gender policies further expose LGBTQ+ asylum seekers to a heightened risk of discrimination, violence, and the risk of deportation. A considerable number of South Asians come to the US as immigrants, and among them, many are gender non-binary.
Building on qualitative methods, this paper fills in the gap in migration scholarship by echoing the voices of South Asian Transgender asylum seekers, a group that has been largely overlooked in queer migration research. Their experiences challenge Western concepts of gender, identity, and belonging, offering new insights into how gender fluidity shapes social assimilation in restrictive environments.

Author

• Prapti Anandita, University of North Texas