Homonationalism

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Homonationalism is often seen as the favorable association between a nationalist ideology and LGBT people or their rights,^[1] but is further described as a systematic oppression of queer, racialized, and sexualized groups in an attempt to support neoliberal structures and ideals.^[2] The term was originally proposed by the researcher in gender studies Jasbir K. Puar in 2007 to refer to the processes by which neoliberal and capitalist power structures line up with the claims of the LGBT community in order to justify racist, xenophobic and aporophobic positions, especially against Muslims, basing them on prejudices that immigrants are homophobic and that Western society is egalitarian.^[2][1] Thus, sexual diversity and LGBT rights are used to sustain political stances against immigration, becoming increasingly common among far-right parties.^[3] In Terrorist Assemblages, Puar describes homonationalism as a "form of sexual exceptionalism [dependent on the] segregation and disqualification of racial and sexual others"^[4] from the dominant image of a particular society, most often discussed within an American framework.^[2]

The concept of homonationalism was created to describe and critique the nationalization of queer movements and growing anti-immigrant stances, while ignoring homophobia still propagated in Western society.^[5] Queer equality within a Western homonationalist framework is showcased as inclusion in heteronormative practices, namely legal marriage.^[2] Social equality claimed by Western society is contrasted with countries that either criminalize homosexuality or do not legally or formally recognize same-sex marriages; lack of queer equality is often associated with Muslim nations.^[1] Puar argues in her 2013 article, "Rethinking Homonationalism", that the concept should not be seen solely as a description of "bad politics"^[6] or a political accusation, but that it is instead a structure of modernity and has latched onto Western societal constructions in order to support the dominant power structures.^[6]

Bruno Perreau has criticized the premises of Puar's argument. While agreeing with her critique of nationalist claims among some LGBT groups, he argues that Puar idealizes those she calls the "sexually nonnormative racialized subject".^[2] Perreau explains that "deconstruction of norms cannot be dissociated from their reproduction".^[7] Jason Ritchie has also critiqued some of the ways homonationalism has been used, especially as a totalizing theory.^[8]