Embodied migrations: Mapping trans and gender non-conforming refugee narratives in Canada’s refugee regime Tai Jacob Department of Geography McGill University, Montreal May 2020 A thesis submitted to McGill in partial fulfillment of the requirements of a degree of a Master of Arts Table of Contents Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... VI 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 A note on terminology ............................................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Thesis research aims and objectives ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Indigenous sovereignty and migrant justice ........................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Refugee law and SOGIE refugees in Canada ...................................................................................................... 5 1.6 SOGIE refugees and LGBT migration in Canada .............................................................................................. 7 1.7 Chapter outline ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: INQUIRIES INTO TRANS AND REFUGEES STUDIES ..................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Transgender studies and geographies ................................................................................................................ 11 2.3 Refugees under border imperialism ................................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Trans and queer migration studies ..................................................................................................................... 17 2.5 Trans and queer refugee studies ......................................................................................................................... 19 2.6 Toward migrant and trans justice, toward home-coming ................................................................................ 24 3 RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 3.2 Research environment and accessing the field .................................................................................................. 26 3.2.1 Field Site ......................................................................................................................................................... 26 3.2.2 Accessing the field: Participant recruitment .................................................................................................. 27 3.2.3 Participants .................................................................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Research design and ethics .................................................................................................................................. 29 3.3.1 Semi-structured interviewing .......................................................................................................................... 29 3.3.2 Arts-based inquiry and mental mapping, or, ‘imaginative mapping’ ............................................................ 30 i Table of Contents 3.4 Ethical research design ........................................................................................................................................ 32 3.4.1 Researcher positionality and reflexivity ......................................................................................................... 32 3.4.2 Ethical research design .................................................................................................................................. 33 3.5 Coding and narrative analysis ............................................................................................................................ 34 4 MAPPING THE TRANSITION AND MIGRATION NARRATIVES OF TRANS AND GENDER NONCONFORMING REFUGEES ............................................................... 36 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 36 4.2 “Farah” ................................................................................................................................................................. 36 4.3 “Ashriel” ............................................................................................................................................................... 37 4.4 “Amiyah” .............................................................................................................................................................. 38 4.5 “Isabel” .................................................................................................................................................................. 39 4.6 “Camilla” .............................................................................................................................................................. 39 4.7 “Bembe” ................................................................................................................................................................ 40 4.8 “Ghaliya” .............................................................................................................................................................. 40 4.9 “Dalia” ................................................................................................................................................................... 41 4.10 “Gael” .................................................................................................................................................................. 43 4.11 “Imrah” ............................................................................................................................................................... 44 4.12 Reflections on geopolitical dimensions of sexual orientation and gender identity in the refugee claims process ......................................................................................................................................................................... 45 5 STORIES SPILLED ACROSS THE METAL TABLE: CREDIBILITY AND NARRATIVE CONTROL IN THE REFUGEE CLAIMS PROCESS FOR TRANS AND GENDER NONCONFORMING CLAIMANTS ..................................................................... 48 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 48 5.2 On trial: credibly trans? ...................................................................................................................................... 49 5.3 Between life and death: the politics of rightful killing ...................................................................................... 54 6 THE MYTH OF THE “PROMISED LAND”: BARRIERS TO INTEGRATION EXPERIENCED BY TRANS AND GENDER NONCONFORMING REFUGEES IN TORONTO .................................................................................................................................. 59 6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 59 6.2 Barriers to employment, documentation, housing, healthcare, and building community for TGNC refugees ........................................................................................................................................................................ 60 ii Table of Contents 6.2.1 Income, employment, and documentation ...................................................................................................... 61 6.2.2 Housing ........................................................................................................................................................... 64 6.2.3 Healthcare ...................................................................................................................................................... 67 6.2.4 Community ...................................................................................................................................................... 71 6.3 Canada is a land of