Sortir du placard, entrer en Europe : la fabrique des réfugié∙es LGBTI en Belgique, en France et au Royaume-Uni

Since the adoption of the Qualification Directive in 2004 and its recast in 2011, the European Union has explicitly recognized persecutions on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as a ground for granting refugee status, according to the criterion of membership of a particular social group. However, there are still considerable differences in the way European states deal with applications from those who claim this kind of persecution, which goes against the EU’s strong desire to achieve a Common European Asylum System. This dissertation follows the “fabrique” of the new category of “LGBTI refugee” in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. It provides an explanation for the fact that in spite of pressures to harmonize the European Union, the contours of this category of refugees differ from one European state to another. Following an approach that focuses on the public policy process with an emphasis on the interdependence between institutions and ideas, I suggest apprehending the “fabrique” of the category of “LGBTI refugee” as a multi-level translation process, generated by the logics-of-positions (institutions) and the logics-of interpretations (ideas) of actors in interactions. To this aim, I develop the notions of “configuration of translation arenas” and of “translation paradigm” which allow me to capture and follow the positional and interpretative logics of actors throughout the translation process (genesis, stabilization and lock-in). The configuration of the translation arenas corresponds to the sum of the formal and informal institutions that constrain actors in the three arenas where the translation of the category of “LGBTI refugee” takes place: the administrative arena, the associative arena and the judicial arena. The translation paradigm corresponds to the space of meaning through which the actors involved in the translation process interpret the category of “LGBTI refugee”. It is composed of three elements: the problem definition, the political solution, and the discursive universe. The proposed approach gives rise to four main contributions, both empirical and analytical. On the one hand, in terms of empirical contributions, this approach allows for the articulation of several levels of government (international, European, and national). It also provides historical depth to the analysis. On the other hand, with regard to the analytical inputs, this approach facilitates the articulation of several analytical levels (institutions and ideas). It also makes possible the articulation of several temporalities of public action change. Overall, this research makes an important contribution to two literatures, namely the literature on public policy and the literature on queer migration studies. First, by proposing to capture change as a translation process, my approach overcomes the latent dichotomies between slow and marginal changes versus radical and rapid changes. It also overcomes the dichotomy between exogenous pressures and endogenous pressures that explain change in public policy. Second, considering the interdependence between institutions and ideas in the constitution of a national community inclusive of sexual minorities, it suggests looking beyond homonationalism, as it is conceptualized today, for understanding the construction of “us” and “them”. This construction is not the same from one state to another and does not appear to be very stable, as it evolves from one phase to another during the entire public action process. Such a perspective thus offers a third analytical path which differs from the discourse on sexual liberation and the discourse on sexual imperialism.

Keyphrases: LGBTI, Arena, Asylum, Categorization, Europeanization, Refugees, National trajectories, SOGI, Paradigm, Policy change, Translation