Queer #PolesinUK: identity, migration and social media

Szulc, Lukasz (2019) Queer #PolesinUK: identity, migration and social media. .

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Abstract

What does it mean, what does it feel like to be a queer person who migrated from Poland to the UK? This question is particularly pertinent now, when the Brexit referendum has provoked increased anti-migrant sentiments in the UK and the ruling Law and Justice Party in Poland has picked on queers as part of its populist agenda. The lives and experiences of queer Poles in the UK―gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender as well as other gender- and sexuality-diverse people, or LGBTQs―are not all the same. Some are out to everyone who is important in their lives, others remain largely in the closet―for example, to their families in Poland―and need to carefully navigate their queer lives in different cultural contexts, especially on social media such as Facebook, which usually brings those different contexts together. Some are fluent in English, others possess only basic English skills and heavily rely on other Polish migrants to find a job or accommodation and to access public services. Yet others speak English well but prefer to date only Polish people (and they use a Polish dating app to find them) to ‘be able to fully share my passions and interests’ with a future partner, as one participant in this research put it. At the same time, queer Poles in the UK share many values, attitudes and opinions, often because they face similar struggles with anti-LGBTQ and anti-migrant discrimination. This report traces such similarities as well as differences, bringing to light the lives and experiences of queer Poles in the UK. It is based on the largest to date study of this group, which consists of 767 survey responses and 30 interviews with a diverse group of LGBTQs.

Item Type:	Monograph (Report)
Additional Information:	© 2019 The Author
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Date Deposited:	30 Sep 2019 09:06
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 06:09
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/101767

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