Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Purple, red, yellow, green...The colors of the rainbow are present everywhere on the streets of Stockholm; it is Pride-time! UNHCR Stockholm has listened in at some of this year’s seminars and lectures.

In central Stockholm, in Kulturhuset’s entrance hall, volunteers and enthusiastic festival visitors talk and laugh loudly, and the atmosphere is relaxed. On the roof, where a discussion about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons situation as asylum-seekers is about to begin, a group of about 20 listeners are seated on the benches in the sun, chatting quietly.

Relaxed atmosphere, laughs and comfort are not, however, something that comes to mind after listening to the lectures and debates about LGBT asylum-seeker’s situation. Being an asylum-seeker is never easy, but being twice something out of the mainstream – an asylum-seeker and belonging to a sexual minority – usually means extra tensions, complications and confusion in an already difficult situation.

In fact, confusion seems to be the main element in many of the LGBT asylum-seeker cases, according to Aino Gröndahl, a law student who has looked into LGBT-persons’ right to asylum in Sweden. According to Ms Gröndahl’s research, many who have not lived openly as LGBT-persons in their home country get deported, as the Swedish Migration Board does not consider such persons to be in danger. However, some openly gay asylum-seekers have been told they should have been more discreet about their sexuality in their country, and therefore do not receive asylum in Sweden, she claims.

According to Stig-Åke Petersson from RFSL (The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights) the Swedish Migration Board has training for their employees about the LGBT-persons’ special situation, and a set of guidelines for the procedures has been compiled as well. However, the guidelines are often not followed and everyone does not undergo the training, as it is not compulsory. He concludes that as a result of these problems the asylum process for a LGBT-person is like a lottery.

Pride is associated with colors of the rainbow, and according to a legend, the Irish leprechaun's hiding place for his treasure is at the end of the rainbow. This place is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect, which depends on the location of the viewer: two people simultaneously observing a rainbow from different locations would disagree where the rainbow actually is. This often seems to be the case with LGBT-persons’ asylum-seeking process also.

Stockholm Pride 2011 seminars uphold that despite the efforts to raise awareness, there is yet a way to go for understanding the particular circumstances of LGBT-persons, and for many LGBT asylum-seekers the end of the rainbow is still impossible to reach.

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