Racialised Queer Activisms in Belgium: Practices of Intersectional Resistance

Belgium has been reported to be, legally speaking, the second most LGBTQIA+-friendly country in Europe and the second country in the world to legalize same-sex marriages. However, hegemonic ideologies concerning the denial of race and racism, police violence, increasing inequalities, intolerance and discrimination create an unfriendly sociopolitical environment for racialised queer people. This is exacerbated by the rising popularity of right-wing and nationalist political parties, which instrumentalise the fight against queerphobia to legitimise their racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and anti-migrant discourses and positions - based on the assumption that Muslims, migrants, and other racialised communities are queerphobic by default. Such a political context creates constraints and opportunities for racialised queer activists, who have been traditionally invisibilised or tokenised by mainstream (queer) movements in Europe. This article investigates the specific forms of activism that emerge and develop at the intersection of racism and (hetero)sexism in contemporary Belgium. Namely, it builds on queer of colour critique, intersectionality theory, and qualitative, interpretative research methodology to explore the mobilisation practices of racialised queer activists located in three main Belgian cities: Brussels, Antwerp, and Liège. Preliminary findings from in-depth, unstructured interviews indicate that race and racialisation play a predominant - both divisive and unifying - role in shaping activists’ agendas, repertoires of action, and the formation (or absence) of alliances and coalitions. Mobilisation practices are characterised by the creation of (everyday) spaces of resistance that are increasingly detached from broader, single-issue, and primarily white mainstream movements (e.g., LGBTQIA+). These practices include organising alternative marches and protests (e.g., Prides), engaging in knowledge-production and self-representation through art, culture and archives, and establishing ‘safe spaces’ that often take the form of non-mixed activist milieus.