Fellow Spotlight: Diego Garcia Rodriguez

Why Diego believes LGBTQI+ asylum seekers shouldn’t have to know Kylie Minogue 

Diego Garcia Rodríguez (round 9) has heard the same story too many times: “I had to leave my country, I survived everything back home, and now no one here believes me.” 

As both a scholar at the University of Leicester and activist, Diego researches how asylum systems treat LGBTIQ+ people who’ve fled for safety—and why they’re often forced to “prove” who they are through Western-centric standards that don’t fit their social constructs. “I’ve heard different versions of it. A mix of injustice and bureaucracy that really stuck with me because of the emotional impact it has on asylum claimants”, he explains. His fellowship takes a participatory, decolonial approach, working across three paired regions: Mexico & Spain, Kenya & the UK, and Lebanon & France. “I wanted to do research that wasn’t just about ‘studying’ communities but instead about working alongside them to shift the policies and practices that shape their everyday lives, working with activists, LGBTIQ+ people seeking asylum, NGOs, and policymakers to develop cross-border solutions.” 

One aspect of the system particularly surprises people: how much asylum decisions depend on storytelling conventions rather than safety. “People often assume evidence mainly takes the form of documents, but in many LGBTIQ+ claims, the system ends up judging whether someone’s life story sounds ‘credible’ according to Western stereotypes and very narrow ideas of what queerness should look like.” The examples are striking. “Many people are surprised by questions asked during asylum interviews like whether applicants can list popstars or mainstream gay icons like Kylie Minogue, or gay clubs in London. Obviously, many people who come from countries such as Afghanistan or Iran may not know any of these singers or may not feel comfortable in gay clubs if they are scared to be identified by others or, for example, don’t drink.” 

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy. “For me, the biggest enabling factor to secure this fellowship has been having the support and trust of a brilliant network of partners, mentors and colleagues who I now see as a chosen family, and who have shared their time with me very generously,” Diego says. Beyond that network, he’s “worked very hard to publish and produce outputs that led me to this stage.” But the journey took its toll. “This has been a very time-consuming process while doing a full-time job with fieldwork, so it had a toll on my mental health especially when moving from one stage of the selection process to the next and due to the uncertainty of waiting. However, I now feel that it was all worthy!” 

Looking ahead, Diego is excited to make the project “feel real” by setting up regional steering committees and advisory structures with lived-experience input, including “an alternative ethics board (which I’m super excited about and is a very unique contribution of this project).” He’s also looking forward to recruiting researchers, starting fieldwork, and “the first co-design moments!” While he hasn’t yet engaged deeply with the FLFDN, he’s excited about the prospect. “I think for me being able to speak honestly with other fellows about our experiences (managing big responsibilities, navigating institutions and so on) will be invaluable.” 

If he weren’t doing this work? Diego would still be telling stories, just differently. “When I was a child I was convinced that I’d grow up to be either an archaeologist or a writer.” He’s recently returned to that childhood dream, taking a creative writing course and working on “a magical realism novel that explores my grandma’s life after the Spanish Civil War, as she navigates Franco’s dictatorship as a left-wing woman.” 

His advice to other Fellows is grounded in hard-won experience: “Treat your professional relationships as your real infrastructure when you engage with communities, colleagues, professional staff, and people in general.” And crucially: “Choose ambition that’s sustainable because fellowships can feel like very tiring marathons, so I’d say pace yourself and don’t forget to build in joy where you can!” 

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