The Art of Storytelling in LGBTQ+ Refugee Claims: Narratives, Advocacy & Community Insights

Upcoming: August 20, 2025

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LGBTQ+ forced displacement is on the rise, yet refugee systems remain ill-equipped to handle the complexities of queer and trans narratives. This panel—led by Maria Diaz and Viviana Santibañez—examines the intersection of legal advocacy, narrative construction, and grassroots support in strengthening LGBTQ+ refugee claims.Refugee protection often hinges on whether an individual can tell a “credible” story. For LGBTQ+ claimants, especially from the Global South, this involves navigating linguistic barriers, trauma, and legal expectations that may conflict with their cultural understandings of gender and sexuality. Maria Diaz and Viviana Santibañez share strategies developed through Vivi’r LGBTQ+, a Canadian charity supporting Spanish-speaking LGBTQ+ refugees and newcomers. Through real-world examples, they show how trauma, language barriers, and Western identity frameworks can complicate narrative development—and how peer-led workshops and culturally competent legal education can make a difference. The session highlights the unique power of community-based support in refugee claims: not just as supplementary, but as integral to claimants’ ability to understand the process, assert their truth, and feel seen.