Queerly departed: Queer viral socialities and Caribbean migrant desires

Abstract

In this paper I explore the transnational journeys of a group of queer HIV positive (HIV+) Caribbean migrants moving between Canada and the Caribbean. I focus on queer orientations and viral statuses as key nodes of subjectivity and/or sociality that may combine in different ways to produce (re)orientations (qua Ahmed 2006) and new social relationships—queer viral socialities—that generate migratory desires and journeys across transnational borders. However, queer HIV+ migrants from Global South locations like the Caribbean often encounter difficulties crossing Global North borders designed to facilitate entry for select categories of acceptable migrants. Acknowledging the productive yet unpredictable interactions of queer viral orientations and socialities that generate migratory desires and journeys alongside the harsh surveillance and disciplinary actions of nation-states’ border security regimes draws attention to the intersectionality and complexity of subjectivities, socialities, desires, and movements of queer HIV+ Caribbean migrants specifically, and transnational migrants more generally as they navigate the barriers and inequities of state migration apparatuses.