Paradoxes of Marginality: Russian Queer Narratives of Emigration to Central Asia from a Decolonial Perspective

• In Event: Liberation or Racialization?: Intersectional Perspectives on Central, Eastern, Southeastern European, and Eurasian Queer Migrations

Abstract

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine and anti-queer politics in Russia has resulted in a surge of queer emigration from Russia. The existing body of research highlights that the Northwest is typically seen as a preferable direction and destination for queer migrants. Since February 2022, Central Asia and the Caucasus have seen an increase in emigration from Russia. This study focuses on the narratives of queer emigration to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In this paper, we consider queer experiences of emigration through a decolonial lens examining how narratives of Russian queer migrants reproduce and challenge colonial discourses. Narrative interviews were conducted with people who identify as non-heterosexual and/or non-cisgender. Our findings show how Russian queer migrants interact with local context, languages, culture and politics when moving to Central Asia. Progressivist narrative is often reproduced as participants juxtapose Central Asian countries to Russia and the “West”. Central Asian countries are being compared to the West as “lagging behind”. At the same time, participants speak of Central Asia in relation to “Russia of the Past”, when the Russian regime was experienced as less repressive and freer. We examine how discourses of orientalism and homonationalism are present within Russian queer narratives.

Author

• Mariya Levitanus, U of Edinburgh (UK)