discussion 2

The social hierarchies involved in shaping the consciousness of LGBTQ+ immigrants in the United States include sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and immigration status. These intersecting identities can lead to overlapping and conflicting dominant and subordinate status in US society. It is important to note that these identities are not mutually exclusive, but rather intersect in complex ways. For instance, an LGBTQ+ immigrant who is also a woman of color may face multiple layers of discrimination based on her sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and immigration status. Similarly, an LGBTQ+ immigrant who is also undocumented may face significant barriers to accessing healthcare, education, and employment opportunities, as well as increased risk of detention and deportation.

LGBTQ+ immigrants have developed distinctive group consciousness and activism that recognizes their unique experiences and works to challenge the inequalities they face. For example, LGBTQ+ immigrants who are white or from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds may have more resources and opportunities for social mobility than LGBTQ+ immigrants who are people of color or from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Despite these challenges, LGBTQ+ immigrants have developed a unique consciousness and identity that recognizes the intersectionality of their experiences and struggles. This has led to the formation of organizations and movements that specifically address the needs and concerns of LGBTQ+ immigrants, and work to promote their rights and equality. One example of such a movement is the UndocuQueer movement, which advocates for the rights and empowerment of LGBTQ+ immigrants who are undocumented. This movement recognizes the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ immigrants who are undocumented, including increased risk of detention and deportation, and works to challenge policies that perpetuate these inequalities. Another organization, "No Pride in Detention" campaign aims to raise awareness of the inhumane treatment of LGBTQ+ immigrants in detention centers and works to challenge the policies that lead to their detention.

The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is an organization that works to advance the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, including immigrants. The organization provides legal services to transgender and gender nonconforming immigrants and works to challenge discrimination and violence against these communities. Another example is the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP), which is an organization that provides support and advocacy for LGBTQ+ immigrants who are detained by immigration authorities. The organization works to challenge the inhumane treatment and lack of access to services for LGBTQ+ immigrants in detention centers.

These examples demonstrate the specific awareness, identities, and activism of LGBTQ+ immigrants based on their intersectionality of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and immigration status. Despite facing multiple forms of oppression, LGBTQ+ immigrants have organized and worked to challenge these inequalities and promote their rights and voices in society.

Patricia Hills Collins' perspective that emphasizes the individual in society and the effect that agency has on the society at large. I think about this often with undocumented immigrants who make it into the US and have to create life here and often face struggles their whole lives due to their illegal status. There is a general rhetoric on undocumented immigrants but also every story is gonna be individual and specific to the persons situation. Someone situation might be determined by where they are originally from, why they are leaving, how they get into the States, how and if they manage to stay, whether or not they have children or other family, and many other factors. What I find interesting and often distressing is how so many of these immigrants are treated as a contingent whole of one big problem when they are not. This will signify a difference that we see often between policy and politics and actual human need and desire. 

Undocumented immigrants are not very high in the social hierarchy, even if they are a high priority issue. They also receive very little support in the US legal system and are very often disadvantaged. A close family friend of mine is an immigration lawyer who makes a very strong effort to tell the story of the people who face threat of deportation, so they can be seen as human in the eyes of the court and maybe treated with more compassion. I find that there is a lot of dialogue about undocumented immigrants but the range of what the rhetoric changes depending on where in the country you are and what someone's personal beliefs are. That is part of why this is such a large and conflictive issue in the US.