Migration and queer mobilisations: how migration facilitates cross-border LGBTQ activism

This article explores the relationship between migration and networks of transnational queer activism in Europe, arguing that migrant inflows increase the propensity for queer social movement organisations to orient their focus beyond the state. Existing social movement research suggests a characteristic common to activists who are most likely to facilitate and take part in cross-border activism: mobile histories of their own. Using the case of queer mobilisation, we bring into focus the mechanisms connecting migration and the proliferation of social movement organisations that champion queer causes transnationally (tSMOs). Migration contributes to new and unique continental ties between multi-national queer organisations. We argue that these ties change the landscape of queer activism in Europe by forming the bonds of solidarity across borders that lead to transnational queer mobilisation. This is largely because migrants’ identities are rooted in multiple spaces and thus trigger solidarity around a multi-faceted understanding of sexual plurality, putting new issues and contexts on the agenda for queer activism. We utilise a mixed-methods approach to show a strong relationship between migrant inflows and queer tSMOs, based on an original dataset spanning twenty-six European OECD countries and on qualitative interviews with migrant activists.