A participant in Istanbul's 2015 gay pride parade reacts as Turkish police use a water canon to disperse the event. Emrah Gurel/Press Association. All rights reserved.
Studies of vulnerable migrant and refugee populations often overlook lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals. These individuals commonly face discrimination by their governments, communities, and families, sometimes in combination with other causes of forced migration, such as economic hardship or violent conflict.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association’s tenth annual report State Sponsored Homophobia, released in 2015, outlines the laws criminalising homosexual acts in 75 countries. Eight states have declared such acts punishable by death, and Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen have implemented this horrific practice. Despite evidence of frequent violence and discrimination against LGBTI individuals living under these laws, there is no international consensus recognising them as refugees when they flee persecution in their home country.
