The worldwide refugee crisis has persisted for centuries due to persecution of or violence toward individuals or groups based on their social, political, religious, or cultural identity (to name a few). Refugees and immigrants who identify as LGBTQ have faced oppression and have found themselves victims of discrimination and violence quite frequently, and often this oppression results from the crossroads of religious and legal intolerance in certain parts of the world. LGBTQ individuals specifically leaving their home countries in Africa to seek safety seemingly demonstrate a more recent trend, within the last several decades. While in many African countries, homosexuality and differing expressions from the mainstream or accepted “norm” of sexuality and gender (heteronormativity) are criminalized, including sentences of imprisonment or sometimes death, in other countries, LGBTQ people are simply not accepted (even if their lifestyle is technically legal) and become targets of persecution and violence.
This crisis is seen in countries all over Africa, but my project will focus more specifically on LGBTQ issues in Francophone countries. Francophone refugees and immigrants have left French-speaking countries such as Rwanda, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast in search of safety and stability, and there are also many internally displaced LGBTQ persons who have not been able to leave their country for various reasons.
