he realities on being on the fringe of society. Separatism within the LGBT-movement in Sweden and United Kingdom

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the reason for why queer people of colour create separatist groups and events from the LGBT movement. In a comparative analysis between separatist groups in England and Sweden the aim is to find out what function separatist groups have in the LGBT movements of these countries, when they are supposed to be open and welcome to all. To analyse why this is, the study used an intersectional theoretical framework. Intersectionality emphasises the influence that different social stratifications that interact can have on a person’s social, economic, and political status. This study was conducted using in-depth semi-structured interviews with queer people of colour who have participated in a separatist group of any form. The result of the study found that people seek out people who are similar to themselves, as well as need to feel some level of safety and support which they did not feel existed within the larger, mainstream LGBT organisations they have previously come across. Furthermore, the reasons behind it are similar in both England and Sweden, even though separatism is a well-established concept in the first and controversial in the latter.