Glitchy transnationalism: When queer migrants meet the state online

Abstract Drawing on ethnographic research I conducted between May 2022 and January 2024 with queer migrants in Athens, Greece, I offer the conceptualization of “glitchy transnationalism” as a corrective to the transnational promise of queer digital media—the notion that these platforms can seamlessly facilitate connections across national boundaries among queer individuals (e.g., Grindr). I explore how this promise falters for two queer migrant individuals, Ziri and Tilila—both of whom I interpret as encountering two glitches. I argue that understanding these perceived transnational “failures” as glitches showcases the interplay of factors such as legal status, migrancy, race, sexuality, and gender identity in shaping the lived realities of queer migrants within transnational digital spaces. Ultimately, this research underscores the relationship between state dynamics and digital media in the lives of queer migrants, urging scholars to adopt a lens that recognizes glitches as diagnostic of power dynamics within queer digital realms.