Dual Liminality and the Precarity of Transgender Asylum Seekers in New Zealand: Racialisation, Documentation, and Exclusion

Abstract (English)

Transgender people globally face significant barriers in obtaining gender-concordant identity documents, exposing them to discrimination, violence, and bureaucratic exclusion. For some, these challenges necessitate seeking asylum in Global North countries perceived as more accepting of transgender individuals. New Zealand, often portrayed as an LGBTQIA+-friendly nation (New Zealand Education, n.d.), appears to offer safety and legal recognition. However, for transgender asylum seekers, does this progressive image translate into tangible rights and security? This paper, drawn from my broader PhD research, employs the concept of dual liminality (Sharaby, 2011) to examine the compounded precarity transgender asylum seekers experience in New Zealand. Asylum seekers exist in a liminal state—neither fully included nor entirely excluded—due to restricted rights and access to services. Similarly, transgender individuals experience liminality when their gender identity is not legally recognised, leaving them in an ambiguous space between societal norms and bureaucratic constraints. This dual liminality, shaped by both gender identity and immigration status, renders transgender asylum seekers particularly vulnerable to systemic exclusion. Based on conversations with four transgender asylum seekers and six representatives from organisations supporting them, this study highlights how the absence of gender-concordant identity documents exacerbates the perception of ‘illegality.’ Without legal recognition, transgender asylum seekers are often perceived as “fraudulent” or “undeserving,” reinforcing barriers to protection and essential services. These perceptions further entrench the dual-liminal status due to the denial of rights accorded to asylum seekers or transgender people in New Zealand as the lack of gender-affirming documentation obstructs access to essential services and support. By engaging with the intersections of asylum, racialisation, and documentation, this paper critiques the persistence of coloniality within New Zealand’s asylum frameworks. I argue that legal and bureaucratic structures in New Zealand not only produce but actively sustain precarity for transgender asylum seekers, challenging the country’s self-proclaimed inclusivity.