Transgender asylum seekers

Transgender asylum seekers are transgender people seeking refuge in another country due to stigmatization or persecution in their home countries. Transgender people oftentimes flee due to dangerous living conditions and discrimination.

Because of their gender non-conformity, transgender asylum seekers face elevated risks to their mental and physical health. Transgender asylum seekers encounter greater challenges in comparison to cisgender asylum seekers those whose gender identity is the same as their sex assigned at birth. The challenges transgender asylum seekers face include higher risks of physical and sexual assault, torture, "conversion therapy" practices, and forced isolation. Research shows that transgender migrants and asylum seekers face intersecting forms of discrimination—related to their being both transgender and migrant people—that can generate health risks for members of the community because of how their "lives [...] are continuously upended by oppressive policies." As a result, transgender people face challenges in the asylum process not experienced by others.

As defined in the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee or asylum seeker is any "person owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion ... [or] membership [to] a particular social group [that cannot] avail himself of the protection of that country" which does not include discrimination on the basis of sex. As of 2025, there are only 37 countries across the globe that provide asylum to individuals out of concern that they may be persecuted for their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in their country of origin. Only a few of these countries consistently and methodically carry out studies that include sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) measures within their collections of demographic data. Because of this, the pool from which one can collect generalizable information about the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants is extremely limited.

In the US, gender-based discrimination laws are based on the experiences of cisgender women, therefore, transgender migrants are forced to undergo rigid asylum processes that exclude their identities. Additionally, their experiences are not encompassed because the "refugee experience" has been seen through Eurocentric terms due to standardized term and definition of the refugee following World War 2 and it is also a broad category.

For example, asylum claims made by transgender refugees are considered under the basis of persecution because of their involvement in a particular social group in the US. This requirement means that membership to a social group is not enough in order to claim asylum, but that refugees must prove that they have been persecuted because of their social group's standing in order to be granted refuge. Transgender asylum seekers are required to provide "proof of gender transition" which reproduces harmful ideas of gender binaries.

The growing restrictive asylum policies and processes include increased periods of mandatory detention and extended processing times. Due to longer processing times, transgender migrants are forced to remain in detention centers while they wait and experience sexual assault due to facilities separated by gender binaries. As a result, transgender asylum seekers are required to navigate complex legal procedures and experience trauma throughout the process.

These processes, therefore, result in high levels of mental and physical distress as refugees navigate the asylum process.

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