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Trauma, Resilience, and Health Promotion in LGBT Patients pp 121–131Cite as

LGBT Forced Migrants

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Abstract

Many persons with diverse sexual orientations or gender identities are forced to flee their countries due to persecution or discrimination. Service providers who assist such migrants would benefit from gaining knowledge about the immigration process, as well as about pre- and post-migration factors that affect the physical and mental health of their clients. In addition, migrants who flee their home countries for fear of persecution due to sexual orientation or gender identity very often have a history of experiences that make integration into their new countries difficult. This chapter will begin with a review of the immigration process for forced migrants in the USA and an overview of research on forced migrant health, followed by a discussion of the ways in which the experiences of forced migrants who flee persecution or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity differ from those of other forced migrants. We will end with a case example that highlights specific challenges faced by this group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, University of Washington, M/S OA.5.154, PO Box 5371, Seattle, WA, 98145-5005, USA

    Rebecca Hopkinson MD

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada

    Eva S. Keatley MA

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  1. Rebecca Hopkinson MD
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  2. Eva S. Keatley MA
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Correspondence to Rebecca Hopkinson MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Kristen L. Eckstrand

  2. William B. Castle Society, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Jennifer Potter

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Hopkinson, R., Keatley, E.S. (2017). LGBT Forced Migrants. In: Eckstrand, K., Potter, J. (eds) Trauma, Resilience, and Health Promotion in LGBT Patients. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54509-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54509-7_11

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